Angel
by kittykatattack7
Summary: "They say you should pay attention to the things you are naturally drawn to. They're often connected to your purpose in life." *Full summary inside* (Tony x OC)
1. Summary

"I don't believe in coincidences."  
"Then what do you believe in, Tony?"  
"I believe some things are too strange and too strong to be considered coincidence."

* * *

Angels exist. Demons exist. Heaven and Hell are a very real thing and Lexi Monroe is proof of this. Being from an Angel father and a human mother makes her a Halfling. All Angels have a purpose or an order from the High Council. Some Angels strictly carry out missions, others are Guardians. Then, there are the Archangels that sit on the High Council.

However, being a Halfling was a rare occurrence and quite taboo. Halflings had no place in the Angel world and were cast aside, shunned from having a purpose, carrying out missions or ever becoming a Guardian. Lexi knew this and was fully aware of her half life, but it didn't stop her from wanting more..wanting that purpose she so desperately sought out, even if it was futile. When the attack on New York happened, Lexi's world was intertwined with that of Tony Stark's, but only for a brief moment. Of course he didn't remember, he had passed out when he was on the verge of entering the wormhole. But, she had been there...even if Tony didn't remember.

A year later, strange and demonic things start happening and her dreams start to grow darker and more pressing. Lexi feels compelled to investigate. Fate brings Lexi and the Avengers together and soon everyone realizes the stakes are too high and they will need all the help they can get. In a race to save the world, the demonic forces grow stronger and Hell is on the brink of unleashing its claws on Earth. But, as the evil grows stronger so does her friendship with The Avengers.

With the Avengers by her side, Lexi finds a purpose she never imagined for herself. And maybe even if a place she could finally belong.


	2. About

**About**

 **DISCLAIMER:** I do not own anything for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, NOR the Marvel Comics. I do own Lexi (her backstory) and any other characters I come up with along the way.

* * *

\+ This a Marvel-Cinematic Universe fanfic. With that being said, some things might change along the way and others might not.

\+ This is set a year after The Avengers and six months after Iron Man 3. As of now, Vision, Pietro and Wanda are not in my fanfic (They WILL be in a sequel)

\+ This will be third person POV of my OC Lexi. And sometimes I'll switch to Tony..

\+ This is a story I have concocted in my head on a whim and hope to have a few sequels branch out from this one!

\+ I know some people get crazy about the ships (I myself can at times) but with that being said..Tony and Pepper are NOT together in my story.

\+ This is going to eventually be a Tony x OC story with lots of Steve x OC friendship fluff.

\+ And lastly, just roll with it and enjoy!


	3. Prologue

It had been a year since the wormhole almost sucked him in and still he woke up in a cold sweat. He breathed in and out as best he could, drops of sweat beading around his forehead and dropping silent as the night. He looked to the empty spot next to him fleetingly before glancing in another direction. That empty spot was the place Pepper would have been. Time moved on and so had both Tony and Pepper.

The old Tony would have filled that spot with a concubine..but this Tony was different. More level headed and a _little_ more responsible. As a reflex, he touched the spot between his chest where the arc reactor used to be.  
Six months ago he underwent surgery to remove the shrapnel so that the reactor was no longer needed. It was that moment Tony had accepted being Iron Man without the incentive of death.

Yet..he still couldn't get a hold on his near death experience and his anxiety was proof of that. Tony grabbed a glass of water from his nightstand and downed it in seconds. His feet hit the cold floor and he maneuvered the covers off his lap to get a breath of fresh air. He grabbed a pair of back cotton pants, tugging them on and grabbing a thin charcoal gray log sleeved shirt from the end of the bed where he had left it.

He shuffled out of his room and into the quiet halls of the Avengers Tower. Rooms had been built for all of them, but not everyone resided there at all times. He made his way to the elevator and sleepily pressed the button to go up. Once he was in he pressed the button for the rooftop and took it up silently. When he got to the roof he entered a long glass filled hallway that led to a small door to rooftop access.

He came here on nights he couldn't sleep and found solace in the fresh night air. He ran a hand through his dark tussled locks and pushed the door open as the breeze hit him, instantly waking him up. He stepped out onto the walkway and leaned against the railing, the night sky quiet and the stars barely visible in the cloudy weather. He felt his heart rate steadying and the hot feeling he had that flushed his skin was cooling down.

And then..it was just quiet. The sky and Tony. He didn't think of much when he was up here and besides sleeping, this was one of the few times he did shut his mind off. He felt his body relax and the tension in his muscles uncoiled, but a blip of gold light caught his attention to his right. He blinked, but the gold blip was still there, unwaivering. Tony felt a small bubble of fear course through him..until the blip got closer and he realized it was..a woman?

A woman with two giant white wings beating slowly against the slight breeze. Tony had seen strange..and then some..but this was beyond strange. It was.. _ethereal_.

His fear had him scanning her not once, but twice, for any weapons. Sure enough, she had two medium sized blades attached to part of her armour and they hung loosely at her sides. However, she never reached for them and her hands hung lazily at her sides. Tony knew better than to relax though..he was still on red alert.

She had her blonde hair pulled back into a pony-tail and her body was covered in a gold colored amor. She had gauntlets on her wrists, her feet and shins covered in armor and a gold plated chest piece shone brightly in the darkness of the sky.

Tony took note that none of the armor looked remotely familiar..it wasn't modern day equipment. Okay, Tony..you're really losing it, buddy. He blinked a couple of times, but she was still there. There was a feeling of recognition..as if he had seen this woman before. But, that was impossible because he'd never seen a woman with big white wings and armor before. The woman drew ever closer, but just slightly. As a reflex, Tony threw his right arm out and held his hand out to her in an offensive stance.

His hand repulsor glowed in the night like a bright warning; like Tony would ever go anywhere without it. Upon closer inspection the woman looked scared, perplexed and fascinated. Was that even possible? Yes, it was. Because Tony was feeling the same and her presence completely tongue tied him. His hand shook with anticipation as the hand repulsor was still trained at her, but it faltered as she widened her eyes and used her billowy white wings to shield herself in caution.

Her wings wrapped around her form and a few seconds later she peeked through, revealing a small sliver of an opening between the folded wings. Tony finally found his voice, "Uhm, are you looking for someone?" Tony, the ever charismatic speaker was completely jaded by the woman. "Perhaps a big man, long blonde hair..carries around a hammer?" Tony rambled and as her wings pulled away to reveal herself he saw the hint of a smile grace her face.

She shook her head no and Tony slowly lowered the hand repulsor. "Oohkay, are you a mute? Because I don't know how this is going to work-" And then the woman laughed. Or giggled. Something in between and for a moment Tony became slightly annoyed. Was she laughing at him?

She started to slowly float up, her wings flapping effortlessly behind her like a slow clap. Tony opened his mouth to speak again, but as soon as he did..she vanished. She left a trail of gold glittery dust in her wake that slowly dissolved into the dark sky, making it so it was as if she was never there.

Tony stood there for some time dumbfounded, not truly believing anything he had just witnessed. He was unnerved and very unsettled so he made his way back inside and down to the control room. He uploaded the video cameras that faced the outside and saw that the Avengers Tower was by its lonesome and there wasn't a winged woman in sight. And of course she hadn't been in the line of sight for the cameras.

He had already rewound the footage and it turned up empty. It was as if she had known exactly where to appear to be undetected. Later, when Tony finally managed to fall asleep, which wasn't until the early hours of the morning, he dreamed of the wormhole. However, this time suppressed memories forged their way into his dreams. Before he was on the verge of passing out and being sucked into the wormhole forever, he saw a familiar golden glow.

He heard the distant flapping of what sounded like wings, felt a small tug on the foot of the suit and then he heard soft angelic voice that murmured, "It's okay..you're going to be okay." And then his dream state halted and he woke up in a flustered state, eyes wide as Bruce walked in the room. "Uh, long night?" Bruce started with a hesitance in his voice. He pushed his glasses up his nose and for some reason it irked Tony and he wanted nothing more than to be left alone.

But, was it really morning already?

Tony grumbled an incoherent response and quickly pulled himself together as he walked past Bruce without so much as a word.

 _I'm over tired._

 _I'm losing it._

 _And plus, Angels don't exist._

If he kept repeating it..he knew eventually he would fool himself into believing it.


	4. Cold Springs

Author's Note: I hope you all enjoy! :)

* * *

 **COLD SPRINGS**

"Lexi-Lexi...?" The voice in front of her was so close, yet so far away. However, the persistence of the female's voice made Lexi stir and she immediately snapped back to reality. "Earth to Lexi?" The voice held more concern than annoyance and Lexi finally willed herself to look into the woman's eyes and force a stiff smile on her face.

"Are you okay?" The woman speaking had thin-rimmed glasses, cocoa colored skin and a cropped haircut that she kept close to her head. Her eyes were a mocha color with hints of amber.

She was dressed in dark teal scrubs, but her office and fancy certificate on the wall said more about her status than her clothes did. Lexi stared at this woman, Mrs. Parker, who had been monitoring her mother for close to three years.

Three years ago, her mother suddenly developed early onset Alzheimer's. And it only took a year for her to completely forget who Lexi was altogether. Lexi drew in a shaky breath before clearing her throat and nodding, "Yes, Mrs. Parker. I guess I'm just tired, is all." She pushed her long blonde locks away from her face while she spoke.

 _The dreams and night terrors are keeping you awake at night. And you've been thinking of that Stark guy._

Lexi willed her mind to shush and not bring up her sleeping patterns as of lately. If she was honest with herself, she knew they were more than scary dreams, but without anything concrete to go on..they were just going to stay nightmares.

Mrs. Parker smiled widely at Lexi and reached her hand across the table to Lexi. She took Lexi's hand without asking and nodded solemnly, "I know this has been difficult for you the past few years, but I want to assure you she is still in the best hands."

She squeezed reassuringly and Lexi nodded, knowing that the staff and facility were doing the best they could for her. She wondered absently if Mrs. Parker was still clueless as to Lexi being _different_.

Could she feel the vibration and hum of her skin? Lexi didn't think so. Mrs. Parker didn't flinch nor get tongue tied upon their first meeting. Some humans had that extra sense and they could tell she was different from merely touching her hand. Lucky for her, most human's were clueless. However, her mother _had_ been one of those rare humans. It was what drew her father to her mother all those years ago.

"I will say she does enjoy seeing you, despite not knowing who you are. I know how hard it is for you to continue coming here." She was brought back to the present again and smiled dutifully. Lexi knew this woman sitting before her was offering kind words, but right now Lexi's mind was like a flame..flickering in and out, in and out. With so much on her mind, it was starting to weigh on her.

Lexi just nodded through the nurse's words, feeling worse than she had before coming to see her mother. Was she supposed to be calling her that? Or was it now just _Elizabeth?_

In the beginning, her mother briefly forgot dates, then names and then her doctor's appointments. And then she didn't remember where she was when she went to the grocery store one day and off to the doctor they went. It was too late though, no one could stop the disease now.

It progressed quicker than Lexi had anticipated and once the first year rolled by, her mother didn't even recognize her anymore. Lexi would remind her every visit who she was, but it seemed to disorient her mom and she still never remembered who Lexi was. Then, after a little while, Lexi decided to just come as a person who enjoyed visiting Elizabeth. She was no longer _mom_ when she came to see her..just Elizabeth.

Lexi found her voice after a moments pause to choke down the frog that had been lodged in her throat, "Do you think it's still possible to get a record player in her room? I really do think it would help." Her mother had been an avid record player diva. She could not stand the new age technology with Iphone's and Ipod's. She was a vintage queen through and through and she loved her records.

Mrs. Parker frowned and Lexi already knew the answer that was going to escape her lips. "Lexi, I've tried to pull strings, but anything that might be deemed dangerous isn't allowed in their room. They seem to have a problem with the fact that it has a stylus on it. You know, the needle point...among other things."

 _They,_ as in the people who owned the facility. Mrs. Parker was the head nurse at the facility and even her clout only went so high.

Lexi merely nodded and knew it had been a fool hearty question. She'd been down that road many times and Mrs. Parker's answer was always the same. "You know, Lexi..they are beginning a lot of new trials on drugs for this disease. Anything is possible. Just have a little faith. At thirty years old, you've dealt with quite a bit, Ms. Munroe, but things end up having a way of working out." Mrs. Parker smiled and folder her mom's file closed in a polite gesture that meant the meeting was now over.

 _Have a little faith._

It was an ironic statement. Lexi hadn't so much lost faith because how could she? She was, after all, half Angel. And all Angel's had a devout faith in the big man sitting on the iron throne upstairs. However, Lexi was also half human and that made her doubt and it also made her question things. Such as, why aliens, superheroes and Angels existed, yet modern medicine wasn't able to help fix her mom yet.

Lexi straightened her long clutch purse on her shoulder and pulled it around to her front like always before reaching her hand out to shake Mrs. Parker's hand. Lexi fixed the sleeves on her white quarter length jacket, anything to give her hands something to do..a nervous habit of hers. She walked out of the office that started to feel a bit too stifling.

The long hall down to the front gave her a few moments to see her mom again as she sat in a chair and watched Wheel of Fortune with another woman. She smiled sadly before continuing down the hall and out the building in a rush. She didn't realize she had been holding her breath until she released her the air from her lungs into the crisp fall air.

Temperatures didn't bother her too much, but to keep appearances she would wear sweaters and coats to blend in during the cooler months. Her father had taught her that. Lexi walked to her red 1969 VW and once inside she started the ignition and took off. Lexi had a destination in mind...Cold Springs, New York.

This place had been a special spot for Lexi. Her father had taken her there many times and for some reason or another, it had become their _spot_. His missions became less and less frequent the older she got. She didn't know if it was because he was being phased out of going on missions or because he fathered a Halfling.

Lexi drove on, gripping the steering wheel much tighter than she had anticipated and noticed her knuckles had turned white. She breathed in and out slowly, calming her nerves and feeling the tension drop off her shoulders slowly, but surely. An hour and a half later she was out of the city and at Cold Springs. She parked underneath a large tree beside the lake.

Lexi shut off the engine and played with the hem of her pink blouse absently before getting out. Her white flats crunched the grass beneath her feet until she made it around to the hood of her VW. If her father were here..he would know all the right things to say. He would know how to make her feel better. Peter had been an Angel, but fate led him to her human mother.

Sure, Halflings were _taboo_ and she never would have a typical life, but the love her parents had for one another and for _her_ was worth it all. He had died on a mission from the High Council shortly before her mother's disease took over. Sometimes, Lexi wondered if her mother had been so distraught that she inadvertently accelerated her disease to happen sooner than later.

It was just a theory.

Lexi leaned back, scooting her butt up on the hood until she could lay down and stare at the sky above. Her mother didn't remember her. Her father was gone. And she was having night terrors about some really scary stuff she couldn't comprehend.

Lexi didn't want to get overly emotional out in public so she closed her eyes in an attempt to forget about the things she could not control. Sometimes her wings would burst out involuntarily when her emotions were heightened and it had become a staple to her training when her father was still around; controlling her emotions so she could control her powers.

Her father taught her all he could, practicing in his secret location. Being a Halfling meant not having all the control and power that a full blooded Angel had and she was reminded of that in every training session with her father. She was cautioned to not reveal herself..to keep her powers a secret as much as possible.

And she did. For the most part.

 _Until you saved that man in the suit from being sucked into that giant wormhole._

About a year ago New York City fell under attack. A group of extraordinary people called The Avengers were luckily there to save the day. had been out in the city when devastation struck last year. She remembered the entire thing like it was yesterday. Hoe could she forget? She had almost died.

She had just left the public library after picking up some books on her mother's disease. And then BOOM. Terror. Chaos. Falling debris. The streets were starting to look less and less empty as people frantically ran away from the madness.

Only a nut job like herself would watch from behind a building as the man they called Tony Stark, flew up with something in his hands towards the wormhole. So much went on in that moment that no one even saw her take flight. She knew it was ludicrous to do anything without her armor and her weapons, but something in her refused to argue that logic.

All she knew in that moment was that she had to help, had to try and do something. Her wings propelled her along in the sky, pushing faster and faster towards the one thing that she felt compelled to go after. _Tony Stark._

The closer she got to the wormhole, the more it drained her energy. And fast. Lexi didn't exactly know what she was up against, but it was terrifying enough to know that if she didn't grab him now, he'd have been sucked up into the massive hole and once it closed there was no coming back.

Lexi had grabbed the foot of his suit and pulled just as the hole was about to close up. The man in the suit didn't move, but she still felt compelled to sooth him as she assured him he would be okay.

 _I hope he's still alive._

She had made a motion to maneuver him around so that she could fly him back down while carrying him. All of a sudden, spots popped into her vision, she swayed uncontrollably and lost her hold on his foot. The dark matter from the wormhole, ascending so high and so fast..coupled by a huge lack of food that day all factored into why she started to black out.

Afterall, she was still part human.

He immediately descended into a free fall and her last thought before she blacked out was that she had failed this man she didn't even know. When she woke up, she had somehow ended up in a pile of debris from the destruction. Lexi realized she was alive when she pinched herself. Her first emotion was relief, followed by fear and astonishmen at the fact that she had been able to survive a fall if that magnitude.

Her father never included that kind of stuff in their training sessions. Angels had tough skin and they could be knocked around and take blows that no mortal ever could, but this was all done without her armor. Bruises covered her arms and torso, but no broken bones.

As idiotic as it had been to do what she did, Lexi had learned more about her powers that day. She was hidden by a large piece of sheetrock and she quickly pushed it off and made haste to get out of there as quick as possible.

Lexi remembered the failure she felt upon coming home and the guilt at blacking out and losing her grip on the man. She remembered pacing in her loft the next morning, the pit in her stomach growing bigger at her failure. She should have never got involved..never tried to intervene.

Her eyes cast down to her hands and realized she was wringing them together so much her hands were becoming red and raw. And then, a busty red headed news reporter on her TV caught her attention.

" _We're just getting news that the Avengers are all alive and well. Everyone is accounted for. Tom, I'd like to point out that the destruction left in their wake totaled to be-"_

Lexi tuned her out after that. Her heart swelled with sweet relief and she felt a smile creep upon her face at finding out Tony Stark had indeed survived the fall.

She had feared at one point the High Council would come for her, but they never did. To be fair, her father always said the High Council didn't care what Halflings did as long as they didn't abuse their power. Now, a year later, Lexi still thought about that day. And she still thought about the man she had saved.

 _Is that why you go check in on him from time to time?_

She made a face at her inner self talking inside of her head. Lexi was guilty of checking on Tony in the past few months..flying around the famous Avengers Tower undetected and getting a glimpse of him. She was curious about him and if she was honest with herself, she was slightly curious about all the Avengers and their abilities. By now, the whole world knew about them.

However, she had never made contact with any of them, including Tony...until last week.

She knew it was a bad idea, but she had seen him on the rooftop and it was quiet. He was alone and he looked..slightly troubled. She could see it in the way his forehead creased between his brows. Lexi had been drawn to him in a way she couldn't explain.

He had been afraid of her at first, but that was to be expected. He seemed so confused at her presence, but when he started to ramble it had brought a laugh from her. She hadn't said a word to him because she knew if she started to talk, she might not be able to stop. So, she vanished just as quickly as she appeared.

Lexi lay on her car for awhile until it looked like the afternoon was passing and it was starting to become early evening. She had thought a lot about her purpose and how it had been known that Halflings really had no place amongst the full blooded Angels.

They were in a sense, outcasts. They would never get orders from Him, never become someone's Guardian like her father was to her mother and would never get a mission from the High Council. When she finally felt like she had brooded enough, she decided to head back home to her loft in Brooklyn after grabbing a quick bite and a coffee at the bakery.

Her mom resided in the assisted care home in New York City, but laying low in Brooklyn had been the best bet for Lexi. The people in her building weren't nosey and she was able to come and go as she pleased so long as she paid her monthly rent on time. Sketchy area? Sure, but it kept her off the radar and no one bothered her. It's how she was trained to live for so long.

Plus, she was only a twenty-five minute drive from her mother. It was an all around win. Once back, she spread her wings out since she was in the privacy of her own home. Her shades were drawn, the sky was dimming and it was a perfect time to be herself. She always loved doing this at night. Having them up all day made them restless, it was the equivalent to feeling like a caged animal.

Her loft was littered in books. Or decorated, depending on how you looked at it. Lexi picked up a book and tossed it on her bed for a little nighttime reading. Reading became a hobby Lexi relied on when her parents had decided to home school her. Her activity and interaction with other kids had been limited.

After getting cleaned up, she stopped before her full length mirror in the bedroom. Her long blonde hair was still damp and her green eyes held a hint of a shadow under them. Though tired, she still hummed and glowed with an energy that no other person had. It was what set her apart from the rest.

At 5'5, she stood at an average height for a Halfling. She was decorated in lean muscle, a standard B-cup and a normal set of thighs with a nice round bottom. Lexi didn't have much of a life, so she spent a lot of it keeping herself in shape and training.

She hopped into bed with a pint of Halo Top ice cream and cozied up in bed before bumping a lump under the covers that made a small _grumph_ noise. "Where have you been, Apollo?" The dark grey russian blue peered up at Lexi, rubbing his head against her hand before stretching and hopping out of the bed and onto the wood floor. He yawned and then proceeded to clean himself. She smiled sleepily and snuggled up with her book.

Lexi didn't know when she fell asleep between the hours of 11pm and 2am, but she woke the next morning in a cold sweat, trembling from head to toe with a book in her lap. Her dreams had taken a strange turn last night and the faces of strangers in brown robes entered her thoughts.

This time she also saw a large building and rolling green grass beyond a country property. There was a sign next to the building that had a bunch of smeared words that faded from the sun..but she could make out _mechanic_ as one of the words.

She remembered feeling so incredibly weak as she watched this group of people in robes chant something over and over again inside this unknown facility. Everything about the dream felt wrong. It felt..dark. Almost demonic. She had been having strange dreams lately, but this was the first time she had dreamed of something she could make out clearly.

Before Lexi could stop herself she was dressed, feeding Apollo and then heading to her father's warehouse to get her armor and weapons. With a newfound determination, she decided it was time to find this place that plagued her dreams.

* * *

Author's Note: I didn't want to reveal the full scope of her powers, the details of her training or other things about her in the first chapter. But, they will all come at some point soon!


	5. New Assignment

Author's Note: Switching it up to the Avengers now.. Lexi will be in the next chapter. I had fun writing this one!

* * *

 **New Assignment**

The room Tony found himself seated in was sparse. He was the first one here, which was rare, but he was antsy today and the clipped phone call from Fury had him on edge. Tony reclined in the expensive leather chair and propped his shoes on the table. He played with the hem on his Black Sabbath shirt absently and then tugged on the thin gray quarter length shirt he wore underneath it. Today, he wasn't clad in his usual suit attire since he had been working on the Mark 43 suit.

That is, until he was rudely interrupted by Fury about a new assignment. Tony looked up as the door opened and Natasha Romanoff walked in her, her bright auburn red hair a dead giveaway. Clint Barton followed her casually and took their seats the table.

They were both wearing attire that insinuated they had been out in the field just moments before this. "Romanoff, Barton." Tony said with a small nod of his head. "Looks like you two were busy." Tony remarked on their attire and Clint answered, "We just got back from a mission in Prague."

Natasha looked to Clint, a small moment shared between them that anyone might miss..but not Tony. He knew Clint and Natasha had something, but it was kept quiet; neither making a mention of it in public.

Natasha Romanoff was a woman that never let her emotions weigh her choices in regards to a mission. She got in, did a job and got out. She was one of Fury's star pupils of SHIELD. Despite his annoyance at her near perfect act, Tony respected the hell out of the woman and he wouldn't hesitate to have her on his side if the world was going to shit again.

"No rest for the wicked." Natasha smirked before looking back to Tony and raising a perfectly groomed brow, "What're we doing here?" They both looked at him expectantly, as if he knew all the answers. "Oh, don't look at me. I know nothing. I'm just as in the dark as you." Natasha gave him a look and rolled her eyes, "I find that hard to believe, Tony." Clint smirked and Tony gave the peace sign, "Scouts honor. Truly, I know nothing."

The door opened again and Bruce Banner walked in. He was clad in his button down shirt, his hair tussled and his blue jeans slightly worn. He looked like he had been sleeping, but Tony knew better. That was the look of Bruce having been in his lab all night long.

He was pushing his glasses up on the bridge of his nose, a nervous habit of his, and Tony wanted so bad to just glue the glasses in place to his darn face so they didn't keep falling down like they did. He politely smiled and Bruce hesitantly took his place at the table, a look of uncertainty on his face.

Just as Bruce was about to comment on the air of awkwardness, Nick Fury strolled into the room carrying a manila folder that Tony already knew held some kind information that would be the reason they were here.

"I'm going to keep this simple and brief, but you all have a new assignment." The room got thick with anxiety, excitement and curiosity. Tony leaned forward, retracting his legs from the table and scooted his chair in as Fury took his seat at the head of the table, laying the folder out before him. "Wait-where's Thor? And Steve?" Natasha questioned, looking around before her eyes landed back on Fury.

Tony rolled his eyes and stated quickly, "Thor is probably at a L'Oréal photoshoot and goody two-shoes is probably.." Before he could finish his sentence, in waltzed Steve in a simple dark grey shirt that was overly tight on his biceps. His blondish hair groomed and slightly tussled, which made all the fan girls swoon. He wiped his hands on his jeans and quickly took his seat at the table across from Tony and beside Fury, "Sorry I'm late."

Tony quirked, "Speak of the hero." Steve made a face and Clint hid his smirk while Natasha rolled her eyes. Out of all of them, Bruce stayed silent, keeping his comments and thoughts to himself. Nick cleared his throat and made a grand sweeping gesture to everyone in the room, "Thor had some business to attend to that is none of your concern. Now that we're all here.." He began and got up from his seat to pace around the room with his hands behind his back.

Everyone in the room kept eyeing the folder he had placed on the table. Tony fidgeted in his seat and decided on crossing his arms and leaning against the back of the chair, "So, Fury. What is it this time? Arms dealers? More aliens? Or maybe ghosts?" Fury shot Tony a look, "Not wearing your suit and tie today, Tony?" Fury asked blandly and eyeing him with the only eye he had. Tony shrugged, "I was rudely interrupted while I was working on the Mark 43." Fury narrowed his eye at Tony, "Sorry, but not sorry."

"Now, I called you all here because we have a situation and I fear it's going to end up being a situation that only the Avengers can handle." Fury swept around the table with ease and continued while everyone watched with rapt attention, "There have been some..disturbances around the country." Natasha leaned forward, elbows now on the table with peaked interest, "What kind of disturbances?" Fury cleared his throat and continued, "The really freaky kind."

"You're going to have to be a little more specific than that." Clint deadpanned. Fury sighed heavily and swept across to the file on the table, pulling out photos and spreading them across the table so that they faced the group. Each photo held a group of people in brown robes with ghostly eyes.

Some photos were taken in a cathedral, others were taken in what looked to be crypts and dungeons. However, the pictures continued to prove more weird as symbols were carved on the walls and chalices were filled with blood.

Steve took some of the photos and started to flip through them before handing them to an expectant Natasha. Natasha handed them to Clint who passed them around clockwise.

"We've been tracking a group of people, call themselves The Occult." Tony rolled his eyes, "How original." Fury glossed over his comment and continued, "Now, this group has been popping up on SHIELD's radar for the past couple of months."

Bruce leaned forward after passing the photos to Tony and asked, "How has this group caught SHIELD's eye?" Fury eyed Bruce, "Besides the obvious of being really creepy?" Bruce nodded and Fury continued, "The first time The Occult was spotted was in a cathedral in New Jersey."

"They were using the basement illegally and a hand of the church found them down there. They quickly disappeared, but left behind a bunch of their things. Cups of blood, books on spells and..human remains." Steve looked to Fury, "Were they doing some sort of sacrifice?" Fury nodded and continued, "SHIELD was alerted and we took over the case once we realized there was more going on."

Tony finally spoke, "More as in what? Voodoo? Spells? I mean, what are we talkin' about here Fury because quite frankly, I'm not a fan of magic and I really don't want to find out there is a voodoo doll of Tony Stark lying around." Fury placed his hands on the table and leaned towards Tony, "As in demonic forces. Raising the damn dead, Tony. Am I making myself clear?" Tony froze and raised an eyebrow, "Perfectly." Tony clipped and Fury moved away from Tony to lean against the glass wall.

"How do we know this group of people aren't just a bunch of nut jobs? How do we even know they are _that_ dangerous?" Clint asked, looking at the photo again and then chunking it back on the glass top table. Fury placed a small device on the table and it projected a live video stream large enough for everyone to see. "Lucky for us, The Occult didn't search for cameras before utilizing an old crypt underneath a graveyard."

The scene focused on a group of people kneeling in brown robes and the only thing lighting the area were a dozen or more lights flickering on the side of the wall. There were two people in brow robes that stood and stone table before them and on the table was the body of a person. The person was shackled to the stone table and upon closer inspection it was a woman with reddish auburn hair, her eyes alight with fright and she was screaming out for help.

Steve looked away momentarily before looking back at the projection. One of the robed figures that stood brandished a dagger and chanted, while the crowd chanted lowly as well. The robed figure stood before the girl's head and slit her throat with one quick swift movement. Blood spilled upon the stone table and the robed figure started to chant, his hands palms up and his eyes closed.

"What is he saying?" Bruce whispered lowly and Fury answered, "We give you this body, our Lord." Everyone tensed, but what happened next was not expected. A dark orb of tendrils started to float from the ground they stood on, the cult members momentarily halted in their words. The tendrils grew until they took on what looked to be a head of a human. Tony tensed and his mind immediately drifted to the winged woman he had seen not long ago.

The dark entity moved towards the robed figure and they froze, the next thing that was said was completely foreign to any of them in the room. Everyone looked at one another, their hair on Tony's neck standing up as the dark being hissed in tongues that made his skin crawl.

The robed figure who had just murdered the girl was mumbling lowly in broken English, "M'Lord, We thought this was her..you said-" The robed figure was cut off as he was abruptly thrown into the stone wall behind him.

The Occult members froze and the dark being floated above everyone now, speaking in tongues quickly and then right before their very eyes vanishing in a plume of dark purple and black smoke. The video cut off. "Who was the man that died? And the girl?" Steve asked tensely.

Fury looked to Steve, "The girl was a college student. Named Sarah Whittmore. Nothing we found connects her to The Occult. The man was Richard Perry. A retired janitor from Minnesota. No priors." Clint snorted, "He was doing a little more than mopping floors, don't ya' think?"

Clint then leaned in as well, his interest slightly rising, "The other members?" Fury shook his head, "No idea. They are off the radar. It seems they have some sort of invisible veil blocking their faces that SHIELD can't crack." Fury looked to everyone around the table. "However, SHIELD has decoded the language that the demonic presence was speaking."

"I'm guessing he wasn't here to spread Christmas cheer, was he?" Tony asked dryly and Fury, yet again, glossed over Tony's comment, "This is what SHIELD translated." Fury flipped a small switch on the same device that projected the video and it started to play audio in a deep, and rather horrifying voice, _"FOOLS. Find the right girl. And the others. This is not her. Next time I show up you better have all the bodies I asked for..."_

Fury cut the device off and everyone in the room looked to one another questioningly before Steve spoke up on behalf of everyone, "I'm guessing you want us to stop the Occult before they get whatever that thing needs?"

Fury nodded and placed his hands on the table again, squeezing tightly, "I have no idea what this assignment will bring, but I can tell you the police won't be able to handle this one. It's beyond them now." Tony cut Fury off, "It's beyond us, Fury."

Everyone looked Tony and he shrugged, "Fury, if I may, this isn't something we have been up against before. Arms dealers, gang bangers, a few aliens.." He rambled off, ticking them on his fingers one by one. "But, this..Fury, this is.."

Steve spoke up, interrupting Tony, "This is something the Avengers can handle." Tony rolled his eyes, looking away like a petulant child that didn't get his way. It wasn't that Tony didn't want to go help and stop these people, but they were kind of walking into a blind assignment.

"You scared of the boogeyman, Tony?" Clint quipped and Tony made a face while Bruce smirked at the banter. Fury stood up looking at them all, "As soon as SHIELD can zero in on the Occult, you will deploy. This is your new assignment, got it?" He eyed everyone sternly and the nods around the table were reluctant, but The Avengers knew they had a duty to uphold.

"Fury, can I take a look at some of the video feed?" Bruce asked, pushing his glassed up his nose and Fury nodded, "I'll get you all everything we have on The Occult. Study up and be ready." With that Fury swept out of the room leaving the Avengers to digest their new mission.

Steve picked up the photo, staring at it for a moment before eyeing everyone, "Anyone know about demonic forces?"

"Let me just go get my spell book.." Tony quipped and Steve rolled his eyes. Natasha was silent and Clint and Bruce both picked up on it. She was staring at the robed figures intently and finally she spoke up.

"I worked a mission in Romania last year. Fury sent me to combat a group of drug smugglers. While I was there the villages talked of black magic that had recently run rampant in their village. They said it was rumored a group of people were trying to bring demonic forces to Earth, but that they were short lived in the village. The village leaders ran them out and almost killed some of them." Clint furrowed his brows, "You never mentioned that."

She looked at Clint and smiled lightly, "It never really mattered until now. I don't know if it's the same people, but I just get the feeling it's all related." Steve was quiet in thought before speaking up, "It's something. Natasha, do you think you could find some contacts in Romania and question them?" Natasha nodded and she was up quickly with Clint following her lead already out of the room. Bruce got up and followed out before mumbling, "I'm going to analyze the footage."

That left Steve and Tony in the room together. "You're awfully quiet about all of this." Steve spoke and Tony arched a brow before uncrossing his arms and standing from his chair. He refused to tell anyone what he had seen that night. They would think he was crazy, not just eccentric Tony Stark, but full blown crazy. Despite what he had seen on the video, Tony liked to see things for himself and he didn't really know what to believe when it came to this assignment.

"I'm just going over all the Hail Mary's and Our father's in my head. Oh,-" He stopped briefly at the doorway and turned back towards Steve and his perfect hair, "Better grab a rosemary Cap, sounds like we might need one." With that smart-aleck quip, Tony strolled from the room, hands stuffed in his blue jean pockets and headed towards the Mark 43.

Steve sat in the room long after Tony had left looking at the pictures that Fury had left on the table. The assignment swirled in his brain, his memory taking hold of the dark presence that made itself known on the video. He had never seen anything so dark before..so impure.

He also knew something was bothering Tony, but being a Stark he was incredibly too proud to admit anything that might make him look vulnerable. The assignment had made Tony more reserved; a little more silent than he usual was. And he couldn't help but wonder if the assignment had anything to do with it. And if it did..what did Tony know and what was he not telling them?

* * *

Author's Note: Hope you enjoyed! I wanted to keep the Clint x Natasha ship alive for my story because I thought they paired nicely together. :D


	6. Help From A Friend

**Author's Note: **This chapter was supposed to be longer..and was supposed to include the meeting of Lexi and the Avengers, but _Hurricane Harvey_ has made it next to impossible to get a full chapter in this weekend. A lot going on and though we aren't flooding (yet) I'm at a loss for words for my city of Houston. My family (which consists of my husband, our two dogs and our cat) are all okay! We have all been home together for three day straight now. As of tonight, next to everything is flooded and nothing is opened. It is raining again all night in our area and doesn't seem to be letting up..hopefully our neighborhood stays steady and does not flood. Our surrounding areas are definitely flooded though and my work has cancelled tomorrow. Please send prayers to Texas..our state definitely needs it! I have never seen anything like this in my 27 years! Here is something to get everyone by! I will be writing a follow up chapter to this one tomorrow afternoon.

* * *

 **Help From a Friend**

Lexi was already on the road heading to her father's storage when blips of her dream passed through her head and she had to grip the wheel to keep control of her VW. For the late morning, there was little to no traffic and she looked up absent mindedly to the clouds above and said a silent prayer. Her brain could only focus on the task at hand and that was finding whatever place was in her dreams, but first she had to get her armor.

It wasn't something she kept on her at all times because she never used it, unless she was training.

 _Or spying on a certain Stark…_

There was no use for it to be hanging around her loft when she wasn't whisking away to battle the city like a super hero.

However, today she decided to bring her armor home for once. She wanted it near her. And something was telling her that the moment she found out where her dreams were taking her, she would be in flight.

Her muscles coiled and tensed around her shoulders before pulling up to the storage unit right outside of the busy city. The storage facility was fenced in by a black wrought iron gate and she had to type in her passcode in order for the gates to open up. 2337. Beer. It had been her father's passcode for a few things and it always made her a chuckle. For an Angel, he had a penchant for beer.

She could picture herself now, a young Lexi looking at her father as he sipped his beer while her mother cooked up dinner. She was still young, but not young enough to observe things such as her father drinking alcohol for the first time. Her father had seen her watching him with a concerned look on her face.

" _I dabble in the Devil's water occasionally."_

 _A young Lexi stared wide eyed to her father, "But, isn't it a sin?"_

 _Her father turned to her so that she saw the stubble around his jawline._

" _Tis' only a sin if you drown in it."_

 _Lexi stared at the bottle before looking back at up her father, "Like, if I eat a lot of Oreo's..my tummy hurts." Her father chuckled looking down at her with those tender eyes he only held for her and her mother._

" _Kind of like that, Lexi."_

The memory vanished right before her eyes and she felt her heart clench. He was an Angel, but it didn't mean he didn't take up human practices. And as he came more prominent in her life, her father took on more humanly traits, but most of it was to blend in with society so he could protect her mom and her. However, she had a feeling he enjoyed some of the indulgences that human life had brought him; such as beer.

The storage facility was dingy, but no one had ever bothered her or her father here and the armor had been kept safe for many years. She parked quickly in front of the unit and hurried out, walking to the lock with purpose. Her blonde hair billowed behind her in a heap; she had paid no mind pulling it back this morning.

She was clad in her Victoria's Secret black and pink track suit set and an old worn out pair of black Nike's that had seen better days. Case in point, the laces were so bridle they came untied rather easily as of late. These were her favorite shoes, so she felt hard pressed to buy a new pair. That and she could be a very big cheapskate at times. She shoved her hair behind her ears and bent down to tie her shoe before deciding to unlock Unit 36.

The storage unit itself was littered with shelves, dust and useless items her father had procured over his lifetime on Earth. A lone chest sat in the far left corner with a faded patchwork quilt that lay on top of it. She moved the quilt and placed her hand on the antique chest. It hummed and she could feel the vibration. It was as if the armor knew when it was in the presence of an Angelic being. Lexi leaned in and placed the key in the hole on the front part of the chest. The next click of a lock was like music to her ears. She opened the chest and the bright gold light that popped out made her heart flutter with anticipation. A heavenly gold light filtered from the chest and it was a stark contrast to her ivory white skin.

All of the armor was antique, old even, and surprisingly tolerable in any kind of battle. The gold plated one piece could hold up in the most epic of battles, so her father had said. It was blessed by the High Council and more durable than any man made substance on Earth. When her father had died in battle, the High Council had left it with her mother, an anonymous gift left in her home. Angels were always very dramatic with stuff like this. However, her father's Will had stated that the armor be fashioned for a woman upon his death and the High Council could not ignore an Angel's last will and testament.

 _He did it because of me..on the rare chance that I would ever need it._

She shut the chest quickly and then gripped the sides of it and lifted. With little effort, she hauled it towards her VW. The chest alone was a ridiculous weight and a young woman such as herself could never carry it alone, but no one was around and she quickly acted without being seen. After dumping the chest into her passenger seat, which barely fit and made for a bit of teetering back and forth, she locked up her storage room quickly and headed out.

Once she got back to her loft, she parked in her designated spot and hauled the chest out of her car. The area wasn't incredibly busy, but she knew she'd have to carry the chest into her building and into her room as discretely as possible. Lexi lifted both sides of the chest and pulled it up towards her chest effortlessly before shutting her car door with her foot. Once she got to the elevators of her building she used her hip to press the button, waiting patiently as it opened.

A young man she had never seen from her building before stepped out, but stopped suddenly seeing her carrying the large, antique chest. He was in between the elevator doors, holding them open for her in surprise. He quirked a brow and whispered audibly, "Woah." His eyes were blood shot and he reeked of pot and alcohol. She hadn't recognized him, but she was pretty sure he had an all nighter with one of the tenants in her building. To make a situation less awkward, she smiled sheepishly, shrugging her shoulders and stepping around him as he shuffled off the elevator at a loss for words.

"Uh, muscle milk. It does a body good." She quipped and with a smirk the elevator doors were closing, leaving the kid staring slack jawed. He was inebriated and high off pot, so she figured no one would have believed him had he said something about what he had seen. Once the elevators were closed she sighed heavily and leaned against the wall while waiting for her floor. She was in the clear carrying the chest to her room and once inside she locked her loft quickly and set the chest close to her bed.

Lexi didn't have many contacts as far as friends went, but she did have one and that was her friend from the local library named Landon. He was a young African American man that she could trust and he worked as the library's assistant. He as there the day the first day she ever walked through the doors and wanted to check out some books. The two had been close ever since then. Well, as close as Lexi could let anyone get to her. He didn't know what she was, but he knew she was different. To him, she was odd and possibly not even of this Earth, but he joked about it more than he seemed to believe it. If he could help her narrow down what she had seen in her dream, then she could get there faster. Two heads were better than one and Landon was a pretty resourceful guy. She knew he could help.

His phone rang twice before he picked up, "Lexi, what's up girl?" She smiled at his jovial voice and sat on her bed looking at her silver painted nails, "I need some help." He paused before answering, "What kind of help? This sounds interesting." Lexi got off her bed and started to pace, nervous to even begin explaining without giving too much away, "You know how sometimes I just need help and you don't ask many questions?" Landon signed, but spoke quickly, "You're about to ask me something and I'm not going to be able to ask any questions, right?"

She smirked, "Bingo, Landy boy." He snickered, but then got serious very quickly, "Alright, Lexi. What is it you need?" Lexi then began to tell Landon she needed help locating a mechanic shop, possibly open, but more than likely out of business and it had to be somewhere rural, somewhere near grass and not really close to the city.

"Lexi, you do realize this is going to take some searching..this could be anywhere! You're not giving me much to go on.." He was being honest and she appreciated it. "I know, I know! I just think two heads will be better than one on this one, ya' know?" Landon sighed, but not dramatically. "It's like a needle in a haystack. You got anything else I can go on with this search? Any specifics you might happen to know?"

Lexi closed her eyes, thinking of the dream and every aspect before her eyes shot open and she turned on her heel looking towards the chest, "Yes, yes! I do! The building was blue, but the sign on the front was all red and it had white lettering. An old sign was near the front of the building by the two lane road, but it had washed out words that said _mechanic_ on it." Landon was quiet, but she heard his pencil working in over drive as he jotted it all down. He was quiet for a beat longer before asking, "Not trying to pry, but what is it about this place that is important? Anything I can help with?"

It was typical of Landon to ask questions about stuff even if he didn't come out and ask her why she needed his help. She pursed her lips and drummed her fingertips on the chest holding her armor before answering, "You _are_ helping me, Landon. And this place is just..something I'm interested in finding..is all." Her voice was not convincing on the last part, but Landon merely sighed in a resigned manner and she knew he was nodding his head without her being there. "Okay, I'll start now. Call me if you find anything first. And Lexi, you owe me an Americano for this."

Lexi smiled, "Make it two! And seriously Landon, thank you." Her sentiments were true and she knew Landon knew how much she appreciated it. He had the library and all kinds of archives at his disposal, so she knew he had been the right person for the job. "Lexi, I never know what it is you get yourself into, but you know I'm always here for you." Landon's sincere voice put a frog in her throat and she nodded, speaking thickly, "I know Landon and I'll forever be in your debt." After they hung up Lexi fired up her laptop and proceeded to start her own search in the meantime.

It only took an hour or so and her search was becoming exhausting. There were so many mechanic shops with that color combination and all of them were still in business. None of it helped her cause because the place she saw in her dreams was more than likely closed down for business. Her cellphone rang and she picked it up and saw Landon was calling her back.

"I got something, I think." He started without a greeting and he continued without letting her speak, "It's a place in the outer parts of Syracuse. It used to be known as _'Big Tire Mechanic'_ but has since close down. The subsequent storage facility behind the shop has also been foreclosed and it looks to be empty." Lexi sat up straight on her bed, her laptop sliding down and falling to the side of her legs.

Apollo jumped up and purred and she stroked his head as Landon spoke, "It's a blue building with a red sign that has washed out white lettering from the pictures I've been able to pull. It's been closed for about six months now, but still hasn't been torn down. I can text you coordinates." Lexi was now swinging her legs over the side of the bed ready to get up and head out. "Landon, I don't even know how to thank you.." She trailed off as she started to unzip her track suit.

"Uh, with those Americanos, for starters." He quipped back and she laughed at his statement, "Yeah, yeah..okay. Two Americanos on me next coffee date!" He snickered on the other end of the line and before he could ask any other questions she said her goodbyes and hung up. Lexi started to strip out of her clothes and the chest hummed louder as she drew near it. She opened it and started to apply her battle armor.

The armor was now more of a one piece that fit perfectly around her body. It was best she wore only a bra and her under garments when putting the armor on..any other clothing would just get in the way. She applied the gauntlets and her shin guards that latched on to her shins all the way down to her feet and covered them. She smiled as the cold metal graced her skin, sending goosebumps all up and down her arms. She willed her wings to start uncoiling from being sheltered morning long.

Apollo stood on his back paws and started to paw at her large feathery wings that were protruding from her back. She smiled tenderly at her favorite little friend before picking him up into a quick embrace, "Hang tight, kiddo. I'll be back later. You got plenty of food this morning." Apollo stared at her quizzically before placing him back on the bed and walking out to her fire escape that was attached to her loft. If she were to fly into the clouds undetected, she had to be quick.

Lexi pulled her phone from boots and checked the coordinates before getting an idea of where she was headed. She slid her phone back into her boots and closed the window behind her as she flapped her wings behind her in anticipation. The traffic below was noisy, but Brooklynites (as she called them) were so in their own worlds it was doubtful anyone would see her from where she was. She pursed her lips and without a second thought she pushed off the fire escape and shot straight into the sky..higher and higher until she wasn't visible to the public eye anymore.

 _Alright…let's go investigate._

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Sorry I had to cut it short this time...but as I said above _Hurricane Harvey_ has cramped my plans this weekend.


	7. A Girl With Wings

**Author's Note:** Thanks for sticking with this story even after the long delays! I appreciate it! :)

* * *

 **A Girl With Wings**

The Avengers tower was loud at this very point in time. SHIELD agents ran up and down the hallways to their assigned areas in certain sectors. Fury's voice could be heard down the hall shouting orders. A loud noise rang out that sounded oddly like the engine of a jet that was firing up. It started out like a dull hum, but it gradually got louder and more deafening.

 _Yep, definitely one of the jets._

Not like Tony needed a jet. His suit WAS his ride.

Tony's suit was flying at his body that was currently covered in a dark gray special, stretchy under armor. Each piece of the Mach 43 suit fell into place and the cool touch of metal somehow soothed his itchy nerves. Fury had gotten a lead on the Occult, or whatever the hell those people were. They had been detected at an old mechanic shop and SHIELD was already placing their coordinates for the Avengers.

Tony placed the helmet in its rightful place on his head before sensing a body entering the room. It was Boy Wonder…Steve Rogers was decked out in his newly upgraded Captain America suit. His shield, that his father so graciously had made Steve, hung loosely at his side. There was hesitance on Steve's face and Tony's insides cringed at the sight.

He detected a semblance of pity and Tony didn't need that. Not right now.

The helmet opened so that Steve could see Tony's face, "Did you get your holy water, Cap'?" Steve rolled his eyes before taking a step forward, "You sure you're okay?" Tony cocked his head to the side, "What? A little PTSD and everyone freaks out." Steve shook his head, grinning slightly at Tony's resistance to talk about anything that had happened in the past.

"That's not what I was asking.."

Steve's voice trailed off, but Tony saw it in his eyes and his face, "You see kid; you need to get better at reading people. It's all in the face. It **is** what you're talking about." Steve made a face at his use of the word kid, but clapped back quickly, "Then I must be a good reader if I know something is wrong with you, Stark."

Tony bristled at Steve's reluctance to let this go. Steve Rogers could be an annoying tick sometimes with his self-righteous attitude. He just wouldn't let things like this go and his determination had gotten him a date with the super soldier serum all those years ago.

"Cap', you should probably be more focused on the mission at hand. We might see some ghosts, so get your phone out and make sure you take lots of pictures." With that quip, he locked his helmet into place so that his face was hidden.

Steve turned around, nodding slightly at Tony. Steve didn't plan on letting this go anytime soon though. Tony had to talk about what happened at some point because the therapists that Pepper had booked him hadn't really helped. Not to mention, Tony was just acting weird in general. Steve had noticed Tony staring at the sky more often than not and sometimes, when Tony didn't know Steve was looking, he saw the haunted shadows pass over his face. And Steve recognized a small amount of fear in Tony as well.

Steve didn't have much more time to be concerned because Natasha rounded the corner and nodded curtly, "Jets fueled and ready to go." Steve nodded in response and followed her down until they got to the tarmac where Clint was waiting with his bow hanging lazily at his side. "So, we're going ghost hunting?" Natasha smirked at his quip and Steve was about to respond before Fury walked determinedly towards them with his black leather trench coat whipping in the breeze.

"No time for greetings. I hope you understand." Natasha nodded at Fury's terse nature before checking the chamber of her gun, her ammo and then holstering it on her hip. "You said the Occult was at this location?" Fury nodded, "There are three unknown tombs that we believe are holding the bodies the entity was speaking about. We have reason to believe these tombs are being used in a ritual of some sort."

Clint raised a brow, "First off, where are Thor and Bruce? Second, how'd you find them?" Fury was already firing back quickly, "Bruce is staying behind to work on other projects and Thor is still taking care of business; _Asgardian_ business." Fury paused and dared Clint to ask another question by staring at him with his good eye.

"The Occult started to set off some of our seismic readers. A rookie SHIELD agent suggested we should start looking at some seismic charts around New York and the surrounding states, so we did. She surmised that these would probably start going off if some kind of..paranormal stuff was happening."

Everyone could tell how uncomfortable Fury was even using the word _paranormal_. Steve could understand aliens, bad guys and even super serum to make super soldiers such as himself, but even Steve was having trouble comprehending this _supernatural_ stuff.

Fury continued, "The rookie was right because a couple days later we now have some activity and I have it pinpointed." Clint, Natasha and Steve shared a look before Steve spoke up just as Tony landed beside Fury, "Tony." Fury nodded in a greeting while Tony revealed his face beneath the Iron Man mask. "We taking hostages or is this a wam-bam kick some ass kind of mission? What about the tombs with the bodies?"

Clint did a double take at Tony, "You got ESP with that suit or something?" Tony smirked, "You haven't heard? I'm the all-knowing Tony Stark." Clint smirked, but before Clint could inquire to the specifics of the Mach 43 and its vocal range for hearing conversations Fury had started talking again.

"Natasha was able to pull minimal information on The Occult. Given that the information she gave me didn't put me at ease, SHIELD has given orders to take no hostages, but **do** retrieve the bodies in the tombs. At all costs."

Steve nodded solemnly, realizing that this group of people that called themselves The Occult were not only deranged, but also evil. Whatever information Fury had on them it didn't sound good. They were a danger to the public and now it became Steve's top priority to protect the public from whatever the Occult had planned.

Natasha saw the briefest flicker of despair in Steve's dutiful and human eyes. Steve was a man that didn't like to kill, but Natasha and Clint had been brought up differently. And if she was speaking truthfully, she was different than all the guys. She could shut her emotions off. She could detach herself from the humanity part of herself and focus on the mission. It became second nature to unload a chamber of bullets into the men that tried to attack her, or give someone a case of whiplash so hard their neck broke. Natasha was as lethal as the weapon as on her hip.

"Got it Fury." She answered aloud before Tony interrupted, "What now? Are we supposed to clap our hands together in a huddle and shout _Go Avengers_?" Clint groaned and Natasha shoved past Tony as she headed into the jet. Fury crossed his arms in a, _'Don't fuck with me Tony'_ kind of way while Steve gave Tony a sidelong look of his own before hurrying in after Natasha and Clint.

"See you kids later." Tony mused to himself before launching his thrusters and speaking with Jarvis on the coordinates for their destination. Little did any of them know they were going to arrive too late..The Occult was already going to be one step ahead of The Avengers. Because the three bodies in the tombs were already going to be awaken to their true selves.

Lexi came to an abrupt halt in the air as she hovered above what looked to be an aircraft in the field adjacent to the mechanic shop. Her wings flapped in the stillness around her and for some reason an odd chill ran straight down her spine and spread out down her legs. Something was wrong. Something was very wrong. She fidgeted slightly, her hands trembling next to the two blades that she wielded in practice battles with her father.

She flew to the front window of the storage facility and froze in horror as she saw the strange robed figures wielding daggers. There weren't just five or six, there were about a dozen or more all on the offensive and fighting. The pools of their eyes were haunting, black like tar and it dripped down their eyes and stained the skin on their cheek bones like make up. There were three large tombs at the front of the room and they were open. From Lexi's point of view she couldn't tell if anyone or anything was in there.

Something had happened here and it wasn't remotely good. Some kind of ritual had taken place because these people in robes had super strength and were wielding daggers as if they had been fighting for years.

What had given them the strength and **who** were they fighting?

Her last question was answered when she noticed a red haired woman and short haired man with a bow and arrow. The man was perched on a long forgotten piece of scaffolding in the large storage facility, wielding his bow and letting arrow after arrow fly at the robed figures.

Lexi narrowed her brows and realized she recognized the red haired woman from the chaos of New York!

The Avengers were here?

She watched with rapt attention as the man shouldered his bow and jumped down from the scaffolding, rolling and then standing quickly so that he was back to back with the red haired woman. They took on an offensive stance and though they seemed to be taking out a few here and there, some of the robed figures continued to get up even when they should have stayed down.

How was that even possible?

Lexi swallowed nervously and her eyes danced back and forth across the storage facility as the pair fought in synch together. It was like watching a pair of dancers, but with fists of fury. The red haired woman looked exasperated and she could see the two of them talking amongst themselves from the window before Lexi noticed a stray fragment of light filtering from the roof. It had a hole in it as if someone had entered from above before the battle began. She peered at it for a brief second before taking flight and making a decision she knew would change her life forever.

"Got any ideas?" Clint barked to Natasha and she gritted her teeth. "Why must you always ask me?" Her response made Clint chuckle, "You always come up with the better plan." She almost turned around to face him, clearly taken aback, "Now, after all this time, you admit that?" Clint felt his smile falter slightly at the sight of the robed figures getting back up from a punch that should have laid them out, but he replied snarkily, "Well, if I'm about to get killed by a bunch of robed nut jobs I figure it was time to tell you the truth." She grunted out an annoyed huff at his timing, but smiled since she knew he wasn't looking.

"We aren't dying..not today at least." Natasha snapped back at Clint before a figure shot through the hole in the roof where Tony had made his grand entrance earlier. A beam of the brightest white light shined from about three yards away and ignited throughout the entire room, hitting Natasha and Clint right in the chest and taking the breath out of them. Their bodies were thrown backwards and they were both stunned to silence.

Lexi dive bombed from above and straight into the open hole in the roof of the main section of the storage facility, using the tips of her weapons to hit the concrete so hard she emitted a large white burst of angelic light. When her boots hit the ground, it shattered beneath her and splintered the slab floor.

The light that emitted from her weapons striking the floor came from within her..a light she had known she had for a very long time, but never used to its full potential. The light went through the room like a shockwave, knocking down everything in its path. She unfurled her wings from around her body and saw the red haired woman and the man were already scrambling to their feet and taking in her form with shock and hesitance.

"Uh, who the hell is that?" The man asked, pulling the red haired woman fully to her feet, but never taking his eyes off of Lexi.

Lexi immediately noticed the robed figures weren't dead, but they were weak enough that they could be finished off. These people could not be saved and Lexi knew that. They had black, ink like eyes and their souls reeked of death and decay. Not even an exorcism would save them. She didn't know how she knew it, but she could feel it in her bones.

The red haired woman looked around hesitantly before moving her hand to hover over the handgun on her hip. The man started to reach back for his bow and Lexi stepped back quickly while sheathing her weapons, and then putting her hands up in an act of good faith and spoke up.

"I'm not here to hurt you."

Lexi found her voice and it was pleading, yet strong. The red haired woman furrowed her brow, never taking her eyes off Lexi. She had looks that were lethal and Lexi inwardly cringed at the way she eyed her as a potential target.

"Could have fooled me." The woman retorted in regards to the entrance Lexi had made that had blown them both on their ass. Her angelic light was toxic against the robed figures since their souls were shrouded in evil, but she was surprised that the man and woman got back up on shaky legs after a blast like that. The man was rubbing his chest as if stunned to silence. She wondered if they had ever felt something like that before.

"You have wings." The man finally deadpanned with shaky breaths, raising his brow and taking in the large white feature that made Lexi unique. Despite herself, Lexi smiled and nodded once, "Look, there really isn't time to explain, but these guys aren't dead…they will be out for a bit though. You'd be doing them a favor to put them out of their misery. Their souls are corrupt beyond repair."

"How do you know that?" The woman asked firmly, looking around at the robed figures.

"I just do." Lexi responded quickly and looked around sadly before uncoiling her wings and letting them out to their full length before walking to the tombs and finding them empty. Her eyes widened as she felt an undeniable sick feeling in her stomach..and a feeling of familiarity.

"What happened here?" Lexi asked in a demanding tone before turning around to the two Avengers. She was surprised when Clint started to answer without hesitation, "When we got here these crazy people were doing some kind of ritual, but it was too late though. The bodies in the tombs literally got up after being sacrificed and walked out."

Natasha looked to Clint with an arched brow as if he was crazy for talking to a strange woman.

"What? If she wanted to kill us she would have already. Am I right?"

Lexi didn't know whether to play hardball or not so instead she decided honesty would be the best policy to start, "Probably." Lexi saw the red haired woman eyeing her up and down as if sizing her up and just as she opened her mouth to speak again a loud sound, like that of banging metal, came from outside the storage facility.

"They're still out there, c'mon Natasha." Clint frowned and Lexi looked to the man with concern, "They who?" Clint looked towards the tombs, "The bodies that floated right out of the tomb. They are outside fighting our friends."

Lexi didn't even bother to hear anymore and she shot up and out of the hole in the roof before heading around to the field that lay beyond the storage facility and beyond the field what had been a wooded area, but a lot of the trees had been cleared out.

"That is _so_ cool." Clint spoke excitedly while Natasha rolled her eyes, "Don't get too excited, buddy. We have no idea who she is..she might not be on our side." Clint gripped his bow and arched a brow, "Well then, let's go find out. After you." Natasha smirked before they both started to run across the entire storage facility towards the back door that would lead them to the field where Steve and Tony were still battling the bodies from the tomb.

"Guys, a girl with wings is heading your way." Clint spoke into his ear piece.

"A girl with wings?" Steve responded back, disbelief in his voice.

"Roger that." Clint responded and then proceeded to hall ass after Natasha.

Lexi's whole body felt numb as she saw three figures floating in the air, glowing with an eerie purple aura. Two of them were male and one was a female. She had long dark hair and her hands were out in front of her as she conjured up purple tendrils from the ground around the man the public knew as Captain America. He whipped around wildly, using his shield to slice and dice at purple tendrils that struck out at him violently.

And then her eyes found the red and gold metal and her heart felt something akin to relief, but she couldn't be sure. Lexi saw the two men hovering in the air, propelled along as if by an invisible string that held them up..except they weren't anything like puppets on a string. They were precise, callous and cold with their movements. One man was strong, bulky and had lighter colored hair. He wore jeans and a tight fitting gray shirt that made his biceps bulge. He shot out an angry flash of dark purple light from his hands, but Iron Man maneuvered out of the way of it quickly.

The broad shouldered man didn't give Iron Man enough time to recover because he had already shot out another beam of dark light from his palms and it hit him violently, exploding against the metal that protected Tony Stark, sending him straight to the ground in a heap.

Lexi felt her wings quiver, her nerves started to vibrate and the telltale sound of the hum from the armor that lined her body. Whatever had hit Iron Man was enough to knock him out on his ass for a brief few seconds. She could tell by the way he faltered on the ground that this was not something that he had ever dealt with before.

The other evil man wore a black trench coat, a black shirt and had on dark black jeans with his cropped dark hair close to his head. He had facial hair, like a goatee, and a structured face. But, his body was leaner than his counterpart. Despite being slightly smaller, this man radiated the confidence of a leader as he held up his hand and waved the bulky man away as if telling him, _enough_.

Neither of the men that were battling had taken note to her hovering form in the air, nor had Captain America or Iron Man. The Leader smirked as he floated down to the ground, now level with Iron Man.

"You and your friends are cute; now let me show you what real power feels like."

The man's words were cruel and unforgiving as he used his hands to bring up a deep black vortex of spiraling energy from the ground. It went round and round like a black tornado as the dark energy from his power had Lexi's nerves spiraling out of control. This wasn't just energy, it was dark.

 **Demonic.**

Her body grew hot and then cold, then hot again as the Angelic power that coursed through her veins started to ignite on instinct at the threat. The man shoved his hands forward, palms out, which controlled the spiraling black vortex of energy and made it shoot straight out towards Iron Man in a menacing and deadly way.

"TONY!" Captain America's voice was a shrill and desperate cry in Lexi's ears from across the field.

Lexi was already in route before he had thrust his hands out, her wings working harder than she had ever propelled them along. Lexi tucked her body and prepared to dive bomb down towards Iron Man and when her boots hit the ground, her back was already facing the men as her wings shielded the dark vortex from hitting Iron Man.

Instead, the dark black vortex hit her wings, sending her and Iron Man flying until she crashed landed with her body hitting the field at odd angles, thrashing limbs and all.

Her body ached and her wings faltered, almost feeling as if they had taken a beating. Well, they kind of did in a way. She moaned terribly as her face scratched against the field that was littered with grass burs and twigs. Lexi's focus came back into view and she spit, seeing a tinge of red. She licked her lip and felt it was slightly split on the bottom.

She lifted herself up on shaky arms, realizing if she had been a mere mortal she'd have been dead.

Another small trail of blood seeped from the right side of her head and oozed down the side of her face.

It was only until she looked around that she realized someone was staring at her. She felt the eyes upon her before she even looked and slowly, she turned her head to see none other than Tony Stark's face as he unshielded his helmet to reveal two sets of stunned eyes. He was half crouched, half kneeling upon the ground. His suit was littered with dust and debris and it was completely dented in the front, but his eyes never left hers.

There was that look of recognition, coupled by a tinge of relief at seeing her again.

A wry smile worked its way up her lips, "Hello, Tony." He furrowed his brows in confusion at hearing his name on her tongue, but somehow it was soothing. "You.." He stated in dumbfounded disbelief before their little reunion was cut short.

She could feel the evil before he even approached. Her skin was crawling and her radar was sending her nervous system into overdrive. "Watch-" Tony's voice rang out, but it was too late. Whatever had flown into her hit her full force, knocking her farther away from Tony and skidding across the field as her limbs tumbled over one another yet again.

The burly man that she had dubbed as the sidekick kept Tony busy; the floating woman was giving Captain America a run for his money with her undead army that she started to manifest from the ground. Steve gritted his teeth before shouting into his ear piece, "Natasha, Clint! Where are you?"

As he spoke the reinforcements he shouted for showed up, sending the dark haired villainess into a fit of laughter, "Stupid humans..you have no idea what you're up against. This is only the beginning."

Meanwhile, the Leader didn't give Lexi a chance to regain her posture after landing. He was already on her, but her fist flew out before he could lift her off the ground. She struck his jaw and he eyed her reproachfully, but with some level of respect she couldn't put her finger on.

"You're cute." His voice held a thick accent of some sort, but her ears were still coupled with a dull ringing from the beating her limbs had taken from fighting.

She struck out again, but he grabbed her wrist like a striking snake and then whipped her around so that her back was against his chest, "Little Angel..so sweet. But, you aren't strong enough to stop what is happening. You could join us.." His voice was harsh in her ear, but haunting all the same. It sent chills straight down to her toes and for a brief moment she felt that familiarity towards him, but as soon as it was there it was gone again.

Lexi knocked her head back, nailing him in the nose, but he was still quicker than her as he shoved her forward harsly. She spun around quickly, but he was already coming at her again. The man now grew large black wings from his back as his right hand shot out like a snake and gripped her throat.

He took her air born, flying higher into the sky, his hand squeezing her throat like an anaconda which was getting tighter by the second.

Lexi was strong, but she had never felt anything like this before. The power that radiated from these people was nothing she had ever encountered and as his hand continued to squeeze around her neck she saw the black wings that protruded from his back, beating the air carelessly as they drew higher and higher and higher in the sky.

He pulled her close and she saw his eyes alight with fire. _Actual_ fire bounced around in his pupils and recognition dawned on her, followed by her mouth falling slack in shock.

Lexi had heard of this man from her father.

" _His eyes were like fire. And they called him…."_

 _ **Abbadon.**_

He smirked as if he could read her mind, watching as the realization took hold of her mind. "You know my name, little Angel. Say it." He crooned to her as his wings beat the air every few seconds so that they hovered listlessly.

"Abbadon." Lexi choked out as his hand tightened around her windpipe. She felt her bottom lip tremble as the full brunt of what she had said hit her. This was not something she could battle alone..she was now face to face with one of the deadliest demons from Hell. Some would say fallen angel, but Lexi thought otherwise.

"It has been a long time since I have seen a Halfling such as you." Abbadon spoke as if seeing her was a delight, despite fighting with her. Lexi squirmed, her grip upon his hand that gripped her neck faltering slightly as he called her a Halfling. "You see, you are like us. Cast aside, forgotten..but I could change that. I could show you your full potential." He spoke to her softly, with a pleading urgency that almost seemed sincere, but she knew otherwise.

Lexi sneered at the man as white wings flicked in annoyance, "Never." She spit this out to him and for a split second Abbadon looked taken aback, but then he smiled like a snake and the hand that held her throat sent tendrils of purple into her neck and they shot down her body. In a flash, her body was on fire, the pain that shot through her coursed through every nerve ending and it felt as if her body was being ripped in half.

The pain was so intense and blinding that she felt her focus falter, the black spots that danced in her vision clouded. Lexi swore her whole body was ripping apart. It was only then she felt his hand unravel from her neck and he let her fall to the ground below as she lost consciousness.

Down below, the woman and the burly side kick watched as Abbadon got their attention and in a burst of purple light the others grew dark black wings and in a flash they were gone. Natasha and Clint shared a disbelieving look as the undead army dissolved into mid-air at their departure.

It was then Steve turned to see a woman's body from falling from the sky closest to Tony.

"TONY!" Steve shouted, pointing up, but Tony had already seen her. Tony shot up, catching her lithe body effortlessly in his arms. "Get her back to the Tower!" Steve pressed his earpiece and Tony was shooting off into the sky, leaving the others behind to clean up the mess before heading back.

"Who was that?" Steve looked to the other two.

Clint arched a brow while catching his breath, "That, Captain, was the girl with wings."

Steve looked up to the sky, but Tony was already out of eye sight. He could only hope the girl could shed some light on what had just happened. Natasha eyed Steve before looking around aimlessly, "We're really out of our pay grade on this one." Steve smiled and Clint smirked before looking around with Natasha, "I have a feeling things are about to get a lot weirder."

Steve had a gut feeling Clint was right.


	8. The Infirmary

**The Infirmary**

Lexi didn't know if she was dead, but she knew she was dreaming. Or Seeing. One of the two. Maybe both. She was standing in the middle of a street in what appeared to be New York City. Cars were tossed aside, buildings broken..it looked as chaotic as the Battle of New York, but worse.

There were dead bodies lying in the street. Children..women..men. Her throat bobbed up and down in agony at the sight before her until a sound so deafening had her turning around to see what was behind her.

There was a vortex forming in the middle of the air, hovering above her and getting larger and larger by the second. The vortex swirled violently and she could feel the smallest gust of wind whip past her body and push her towards the vortex.

The closer she got she could see hands reaching out of the vortex and something coming through. The hands were decrepit and then she realized they were bony and white, just as a skeleton's hands.

When the vortex threatened to swallow her whole and the skeletal hand reached so far out it grazed her cheek she screamed. It was only when she had found her voice and screamed so loud that the vortex vanished before her eyes and the next thing she knew she was sitting upright in a white cot, while something jerked her back down from her wrist.

"Hey, hey it's okay.."

A foreign voice she didn't recognize hit her ears. She blinked her eyes rapidly and with a start realized she wasn't dead at all. She was laying a room that looked somewhat like an infirmary, but it was way too complex to be a normal hospital room.

She saw monitors of all kinds around her, vials, tubes and even a lab area off in the corner to the left. In front of her was a long piece of glass that she swore was double sided so that people on the other side could see in. She watched too much Law and Order: SVU to not know what that was.

To her right a man with kind, yet tired eyes met her gaze and she quirked an inquiring brow as his features became recognizable.

Bruce Banner; The really big green guy.

He wore a dark purple button down and had a wave of dark brown, locks that were unkempt upon his head, but somehow worked for him. He accompanied the purple button down with a brown pair of pants.

He looked smart, regardless if he wore glasses or not, but there was an intense nature about his eyes. She could see it there..something lingering behind his eyes just waiting to be released.

It made the hair on her arms stand up and she broke out in goosebumps.

Why the hell was she in a room with Bruce Banner?

Unless..

"Where am I?" Her voice was groggy and not her own. She swallowed, wetting her lips and looking down at the cool metal on her right wrist that kept her in place. She widened her eyes in alarm as she jerked her head up to meet his gaze.

They had handcuffed her!

Lexi saw his eyes looking down at the handcuffs and then back up at her. He looked a little apologetic, but not entirely.

"And why am I handcuffed?" Lexi felt her voice change, a slight sour note hit her vocal chords and he must have caught it because his eyebrows rose at her accusing tone. "You're in a hospital.." He turned to look back at the dark glass window across from them and she gave him a hard look as she allowed her eyes to roam around the room.

It was huge. Way bigger than any normal hospital room and the monitors and equipment were way behind the normal stuff you'd find downtown. It looked very modern in design and even the cot was long, wide and expensive.

"Some hospital room."Her words were short and clipped and Bruce shifted uncomfortably. She knew people were watching them through the glass window.

"We had to take precautions with the handcuffs." Bruce muttered as he looked over a chart with something on it. She didn't like that he was reading something about her that she wasn't privy to.

And Lexi didn't like being handcuffed like a criminal either, but she supposed if she was on the other end of the stick she'd be doing the same thing. She broke the awkward silence as it threatened to consume her, "You're Bruce Banner..or Dr. Banner."

He looked up at her, clearly intrigued, and she stared at him before quirking a small smile, "I watch the news..saw you on one of those social media sites once I think."

He furrowed his brows before shaking his head, "I don't have social-" He stopped briefly before rolling his eyes, "That was Tony's doing." Lexi looked up now, her eyes wider than before at the mention of Tony.

Bruce seemed not to notice as he was already buried back into the paperwork he had previously had his nose in. He pushed his glasses up farther on his nose before putting the paperwork down, "You've been out for a while now. How do you feel?"

Lexi shifted, trying to sit up as best she could with the handcuff on her wrist. This wasn't going to do. In a flash, she yanked the handcuff off the metal bars on the bed and Bruce stared open mouthed at her. He didn't back up, nor did he scurry off in a corner, but he became noticeably tense.

"I'm not going to hurt any of you. I'm not one of them." She said this all in one breath, her hands coming up to her forehead and she proceeded to rub her temples.

The last thing she wanted was to scare any of them or make them think she was one of the monsters they all saw esrlier. The cold metal of the handcuff was still there, but at least she wasn't linked to the bedframe with her hand anymore.

"I feel like I got hit by a train, Dr. Banner. What happened to me? How long have I been out? And where did Abaddon and those people go? We have to-"

Bruce tentatively put a hand to her shoulder and it was in that moment she realized she was in an infirmary gown.

Her armor was gone.

Where was her armor?

She cringed, jerking up to look at his hand on her shoulder, and he pulled his hand back. It wasn't what she was cringing at and she saw his face looking slightly alarmed, "No, oh, no no. It's okay, I just-the hospital gown..someone changed me." Lexi felt a blush creep up on her face. For the first time since their awkward interaction, Bruce laughed nervously, "Oh, uh-wasn't me. I-uh-I'm just the Doctor. And call me Bruce."

"My armor. Where is it?" She asked sternly and Bruce opened his mouth to speak, closed it and then opened it once more as if he was debating how he should answer.

"Ah-actually, I don't particularly know, but it's not gone. I-uh-I'm not always privy to information either." He flashed Lexi a tight smile, shrugging his shoulders with honesty. Lexi smiled lightly, but her insides were swarming with anxiety. That armor was the one token from her father she had, besides the knowledge he gave her of her powers. It was more than just protective gear, it was angelic gear, passed down from one of the best guardian angels there had been..her father.

"I just don't want anyone messing with it. It just-it was a gift. It means a lot to me." Her words were honest and her voice dropped an octave as the emotional attachment to her armor was made pretty clear. Bruce nodded, "I'll make sure it's kept safe." And then he continued, "Look, uh- you were out for a good while. You just woke up, so try and relax. All the other stuff will get worked out, but for now I want to ask you some questions. Is that okay?"

She took note of his politeness and nodded silently. He looked at the chart and then at Lexi, "What's your name?" Lexi hesitated, but answered truthfully, "Lexi Monroe." He nodded as if that was true, "How old are you?" She looked at him with an arched brow, "It's never polite to ask a lady her age, Bruce." He gave her wry smile, "I just need it for your file."

"I'll be thirty-one this December." He nodded again before eyeing her inquisitively, "Any health problems?" She shook her head, "No, but my mom has..she has Alzheimer's."

He nodded again, but this time a sympathetic look reached his eyes and she appreciated it. It wasn't a disease she wished on anyone. "Allergic to anything?" He asked, moving his glasses up his nose again and she found it a little annoying, but kept quiet. "Codeine." He nodded, "Good to know." She waited a beat and he continued, "Do you know what year it is?" Lexi scoffed, "Of course. It's 2013."

Bruce smiled lightly, laughing a little. Not at her, but at knowing how absurd his questions were sounding, "You're head is clear and you seem to have your memory intact." She furrowed her brow, "Why wouldn't I? And what happened to me?"

When he looked back at up her he placed the file down at the end of the bed and looked like he didn't know how to proceed with what he wanted to say next. He chewed on his words thoughtfully before continuing.

"You were out for hours. I didn't know what to expect from you when you woke up. You were symptomatic, but all your vitals were normal. It wasn't exactly easy to pin point what was wrong with you because.. Ms. Monroe, you're healthy as a horse. Better, I might say."

He flashed a smile and she reflected one of her own towards him before asking, "Dr.-I mean Bruce, what symptoms did I have?" He grabbed her file and flipped the page up, "All signs pointed to poisoning, but you weren't..poisoned per se. Whatever happened to you wasn't…" He stopped, trying to find the right words.

"Human?" She finished the sentence for him and he stared stoicly at her, clearly rattled by his findings. "I remember Abaddon being there..that's who the man was." Bruce stared blankly at the name she referenced, but she continued before he could call her bat shit crazy.

"I felt..a really dark energy consume me. Like he thrust it into me. My whole body felt like it was on fire and then I just..remember falling. And that was it." She kept the part of the dream a secret. Lexi wanted to decipher that on her own time. They didn't need to know everything.

"When you got here you were burning up, I was able to stabilize you and keep you comfortable. It seems like your body healed itself." Bruce added curiously.

Lexi looked up at him expectantly, "How did I get here? I remember falling, but it's all black after that." Bruce smiled, placing the file back down at her bedside, "Mr. Stark brought you here."

 _Tony Stark._

"Bruce, where am I?" He paused at her question and sighed with a resigned tone, "You're at the Avengers tower. They didn't think it was safe for you elsewhere."She nodded lightly and he was peering at her from behind his glasses, "They said you had…wings. I guess they were up when he brought you in." He arched a brow and she knew her wings had folded in on themselves at some point in a defense mechanism.

 _They closed up to protect me from prying human eyes._

Lexi sat up straighter now and closed her eyes before feeling her wings erupt from her back all in one grand sweep. They fluttered effortlessly in the air behind her back. Bruce's eyes were wide and he leaned in, taking his glasses off to get a better look. He walked to them hesitantly, his hand out stretched, but he stopped, "May I?" She nodded silently as his hands touched her wings with light touches.

He looked like a man that had nearly seen it all, but judging by his expression he clearly hadn't expected this.

"You're world is about to get a whole lot bigger.." She remarked coolly and he gazed at her with a pained expression, "Yeah, that's what I'm worried about."

Lexi frowned, realizing her people, or rather; her world was interfering with the lives of these humans. It saddened her. They didn't deserve this strife, but whom else on Earth better for this task than the Avengers?

Bruce took a couple steps back, not over staying his welcome by her wings and then cleared his throat, "You're an anomaly, Ms. Monroe." Lexi looked up to Bruce, feeling tired all of a sudden and a little safer than she had when she had awoken. However, she wasn't about to get into the Angels and Demons talk right now. She needed more sleep; her body was practically running on fumes again. Whatever Abaddon had done to her had taken a lot of her energy, but at this point she was grateful for the help from Dr. Banner.

"What I am is tired." She gave a small laugh, hoping he could buy her more time to rest before the brigade of questions came from whoever was in charge.

Bruce smiled politely, his voice dropped to a whisper as if he had read her mind, "I can probably buy you a little more time to sleep before the others come. I'm sure they're going to have a lot more questions." Lexi quirked a brow, "I know they are all on the other side of that glass, Bruce."

His smile faltered a little and he looked guilty before saying aloud, "Which is why they'll listen when I say you need more sleep before being questioned." He looked back at the mirror with a stern expression before returning back to her with a small smile.

Lexi nodded her head at him appreciatively and didn't even bother putting her wings up. There was no point. They had all seen her at some time or another. They knew she had wings. They knew she wasn't necessarily human. Hell, she was in a room with a guy that turned into a giant green thing so really no judgement could pass around here.

Bruce grabbed her file before giving her a polite smile, "Let me know if you need anything." She returned his smile with one of her own. He turned around to walk away, but she spoke up now as an unresolved and unspoken tension had been in the air since she awoke.

"You never asked me what I was." She called out in a curious tone. Bruce stopped midway back towards the door to her room and turned around, taking his glasses off again and looking far away as if debating how to approach the subject.

"I have some theories, but I-uh-I honestly didn't know if I was ready for that kind of truth..just yet." His answer perplexed her, but after a moment she realized he was talking about his faith; or faith in general. Most people talked about religion and their beliefs, but when faced with the reality that it could all be real, angels and demons…well humans usually got pretty shaken.

Lexi merely nodded once, "Fair enough." Bruce walked out and left her to her thoughts. She couldn't believe she was here..of all places, but she wondered if this might just be the thing she needed. The world was in danger and knowing now who she was up against, well, she would need help. There was no denying that.

 _Oh, I hope Landon doesn't get too worried about me._

 _And Apollo. Poor guy..probably is worried sick about me._

Lexi frowned thinking about two individuals that would be worried about her not returning home. She knew it would only be a matter of time before Landon went to her loft. There was nothing she could about it now though.

Sleep first. Deal with everything later. She gave one last glance towards the window where she knew everyone was watching her before getting comfortable and closing her eyes.

Bruce walked out of the room and was greeted by his team as well as Nicky Fury. All their faces were expectant, but Bruce noticed Tony lingering in the window as he watched her with curious eyes. Bruce spoke out firmly, "She needs more rest, guys. A few more hours, okay? Her vitals and everything are fine, but she's still pretty weak."

Tony looked like he wanted to go in there and wake her up, but Natasha put a hand on his forearm, "Tony, don't. We'll follow Bruce's lead on this one." Tony looked annoyed and shook her hand off like it was an annoying fly, "Okay hot shot. How long until we can talk to her?"

Bruce shrugged, "A few hours, maybe." Fury nodded before looking over at Natasha, "Get me some guys to guard the door. I don't want anyone coming in or out of this room." Natasha nodded and stalked off down the hallway.

"Did you see the way she broke out of those handcuffs?" Clint whistled and Fury rolled his eyes. "I'm just sayin'..she'll need more than few guards guarding the door." Clint remarked. Bruce shrugged, "I honestly don't think she's going to try anything."

Steve kept silent, but trusted Bruce's evaluation of the girl. Steve looked around the group before returning his gaze to Bruce, "What can you tell us, Bruce?" Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose before handing the file off to Fury, who started to flip through pages of Bruce's findings. "She's incredibly strong, inside and out. The handcuffs were probably just a taste. Her vitals are perfectly fine, if not better. She's..different."

Clint snorted, "Uh, yeah, clearly. She has wings." Tony smirked and Steve pressed on, "What else?" Steve was a no nonsense kind of guy and right now his mood was less than stellar since there were three freaks with wings on the loose in New York City. He wanted answers and he wanted to get to the bottom of whatever was going on with this Occult group.

"There's this thing..with her blood. I think you should come to the lab for this. Get Natasha too." Clint nodded and started down the hallway. Bruce pushed his glasses up his nose and eyed Steve, Tony and Nick, "Meet in the lab in twenty?"

The Avengers stood in Bruce's lab while he pulled out a vial of normal looking blood and dropped some upon a slide that he slid underneath a fancy looking microscope. "I took her blood while she was out and analyzed its..properties."

Bruce looked around as the Avengers stood, their arms crossed, and he realized he was going to have to explain in English so they would understand.

"And what did you find?" Fury asked, nodding his head in way that meant time was ticking and he didn't want the long, drawn out version of it. Bruce got excited and Tony had to hold back the eyeroll that was starting to generate due to Bruce's nerdy tendencies. "Well, for starters she has AB-, which accounts for roughly six percent of the world's population."

Bruce began and Steve shrugged lightly, "Okay, she has a rare blood type, but what else?" Bruce held up a hand and smiled, "Look in the microscope and see for yourself." Steve furrowed his brow and hesitantly walked to the microscope. When he focused, the room was silent and intense..until he came up and stared at Bruce with a slack jaw, "It's..glowing."

Bruce slapped his hands together and pointed at Steve in giddy science excitement. "Exactly! Her blood is not only one of the rarest blood types which indicate that she is partially human, but it's glowing with a property I have never seen before. I'm currently trying to separate the properties that are glowing and analyze them."

Bruce paced a few steps before continuing, his eyebrows furrowed in deep scientific thought, "I think this will give me the answers to the other part of her. On top of that, she's healthier than anyone I've ever seen at her age. Despite what she has going on right now, she's perfectly fine. She's more than fine."

Clint spoke up before anyone else, "You don't think she's like some of those kids that keep popping up? With the, uh, X-Gene?" Bruce shook his head, "No, definitely not a mutant. Nothing about her indicates a mutation. If anything..she seems to be a very enhanced human being."

Fury blew out a breath, "What's with the wings?" Bruce shrugged his shoulders, "Guess we'll have to ask her about that later."

Natasha took Steve's spot and looked at the blood for a few moments before snapping her head back at Steve as in confirmation, "This is wicked. I've never seen anything like it." Bruce stood silent, watching every Avenger take a look at her blood under the microscope. When it was Tony's turn he was quiet, looking at it with a languid posture and when he popped up he looked as if he something was starting to make sense.

Steve grew quiet, but watched Tony's behavior. He was unusually quiet and Fury looked at him oddly as well. "No sarcasm today, Stark?" Fury asked . "What? She's different, that's pretty obvious by the oh I don't-WINGS!" Tony threw his hands out in frustration as everyone stared at him.

Natasha rolled her eyes, but Steve was staring pensively at the blood, "So, what do we know about her? Other than all of this? How is she connected to those people?" Fury looked at everyone in the room, handing the files back to Bruce, "That, my friends, is what S.H.I.E.L.D. is for."

He flashed a smug look at them before whipping around, his black leather coat flowing behind him, "We'll brief her in a few hours. I'll call you when we do so. Until then, stay away from her." Once Fury was gone Clint crossed his arms, "The Occult members were..disposed of."

He looked away and the team realized Clint meant they had been taken out. Steve grimaced and looked away sadly. There were people in the Occult that had family..friends..spouses. They might have been a lost cause once they stepped foot into The Occult, but it didn't mean they didn't have grieving friends and family. It was the part that Steve hated the most about his job as protector of the free world.

Tony leaned against the table with the blood and looked at everyone, "I'm more curious what the three musketeers we ran into are up to. It can't be good. And, I'm sorry, did anyone fail to notice they sprouted black wings? Anyone?"

He shrugged his shoulders sarcastically with his pompous attitude shining through as usual and stared at everyone. Steve groaned, "It was kind of hard to miss." Bruce looked at them as he messed around with his lab equipment, "Sounds like I missed an interesting fight."

Clint shook his head, "Not really. People with wings, crazy powers, dark arts type stuff. It was like a bad Harry Potter movie." Tony smirked and Steve chewed on his cheek thoughtfully while Bruce scrunched his nose up, "A bad Harry Potter movie?"

Natasha put a hand on his arm, "Trust me when I say it was pretty wild and this is coming from someone who, like you, fought aliens in the middle of New York."

"Is it possible that any of this stuff is..real? I mean the woman I was fighting literally lifted dead soldiers from the ground. What are we actually dealing with?"Steve looked frustrated as he spoke, but his leadership with the team didn't waiver. The Avengers looked from one another, their faces ranging from confused, perplexed and disbelieving.

Tony pushed off the table and Steve eyed him wearily, "Where you going, Stark?" Tony looked back with an innocent expression crossing his features. He shrugged carelessly, "Going to tinker in the garage for a few hours. Fury did say a few hours, right?" Steve stared at him with apparent disbelief in his eyes. The others looked from Tony to Steve trying to figure out where the tension was coming from.

Tony disappeared and Natasha arched a brow, "What was that about?" Steve waited a few beats until he spoke, "I don't know. I just know he's been acting different since the mission." Clint shrugged, "Tony's always been weird." Natasha gave a small nod of approval at the comment, but Steve shook his head, "Weirder than usual."

Everyone was silent and Natasha furrowed her manicured brows, "You think he knows something that is going on with the mission?" Steve shook his head, taking a seat near Bruce and leaning back in the chair and looking at a loss for words, "Honestly, I have no idea at this point."

Bruce looked over to them and kept silent. All the while thinking about the weird things he had seen on Tony's computer the night he had fallen asleep at his desk and Bruce had wandered in to wake him up. Winged creatures and angels had been along the articles that Bruce had glimpsed that night. However, he wouldn't say anything yet. He didn't feel it was his secret to share.

After an hour had passed, Tony had successfully gotten rid of the guards that stood outside her room. It was amazing what a few flashes of green would do for money hungry men that had a gambling habit.

 _Fury needs to get some more honorable men on his payroll._

Tony was on a mission and had no qualms at playing dirty to get what he wanted. And right now he wanted in a particular room. The cameras for that hallway had been re-routed so that they were on a loop of old footage from a few days ago. Tony looked up and down the hallway before entering the room quietly and shutting the door behind him. He was surprised when a lithe and slightly snarky voice met him upon entry…

"Took you long enough."

She was awake.


	9. Revelations

**Revelations**

Lexi pushed herself farther up to get into a better sitting position as Tony entered the room, but her eyes never dared to wander from his own. He stared at her for a moment and in that millisecond she saw the briefest flicker of alarm and surprise. She didn't think Tony Stark was a man that got tongue tied often, if ever, but he was right now as he stared at her back.

His dark eyes moved to her wings that were out in full span for whomever to see when they walked in. That someone just so happened to be Tony. He was clad in a reddish colored jacket that zipped up in the front and beneath it looked to be a dark gray shirt, but she couldn't tell exactly since it was zipped up almost to the top. He wore a pair of dark pants that looked almost like blue, but were so dark they were almost black.

He smirked a very Tony like smirk, "You know, it's the funniest thing…" he started to talk and placed his hands behind his back while pacing the length of the room, getting closer to her bed and then turning deftly on his heel to start over again with his pace.

"Not too long ago I saw a woman right outside the walls of the Avengers tower with wings like yours. Come to think of it..she was a dead ringer for you."

His eyes snapped up to hers as he came to an abrupt halt at her bedside. He took in the cuts and bruises on her face that were already healing, "You always put yourself head first into danger like that?" His tone was not patronizing, but a little exasperated. Granted she had put herself between a purple beam and Iron Man..it was a little foolish, but Lexi acted on instinct to save him.

 _Not the first time._

Lexi bit her bottom lip and looked down, like a child that had gotten caught with their hands in the cookie jar. He seemed as confused as everyone else in the Avengers Tower and being confused wasn't something these guys liked to be.

She snuck a glance back up at Tony and offered a small guilty smile, "It was me. And by running head first into danger you mean saving your life? "

 _It also wasn't the first time we met._

He looked down at his hands briefly and there was an audible sigh he let out in relief. The muscles that had been coiled around his shoulders moments ago seemed to loosen with her revelation. He smirked at her last comment, "I had it under control, trust me." She rolled her eyes lightly at his stubbornness.

"You're not crazy, Tony. You did see me that night." She murmured quietly, offering him a quick smile. "Who ever said I was crazy?" Tony quipped back and she smirked before replying, "You don't read the papers do you?"

Tony waved his hand as if that was preposterous, "Of course not. I'm a billionaire genius, when do I have time to read the paper?" She cocked her head to the side and raised her brow incredulously at him. She didn't believe for one second that Tony Stark didn't look at the papers from time to time.

 _He's very prideful._

Lexi licked her bottom lip, biting it for a brief second as she collected her thoughts, but when she was about to speak again she saw Tony looking at her, trying to figure her out as he tilted his head to the side cockily, "Who are you exactly? And why are you following me?"

She barked out a laugh and he reared his head back, clearly taken aback that she was laughing, "Uhm, am I missing something here?" He asked not understanding why she was laughing.

Lexi put the back of her hand against her mouth and smirked, "You are very full of yourself Tony to think that I'm following you." He chewed on this sentiment before arching a brow, "It wouldn't be the first time I had a crazy stalker."

"I don't doubt it." Her eyes met his and she smiled sheepishly, "For starters, I'm sorry for dropping in the other night unannounced."

Tony raised a brow, "As you should be. Make a man go crazy.." He muttered more to himself than her and she laughed lightly, a hue or red ringing her cheeks as she admitted, "I doubt that." It was more towards his comment about making a man go crazy, but he must have heard her because he eyed her wearily, "I don't."

She felt the warmth spread from her cheeks and down to her neck. The awkward moment of silence in the room growing more deafening as the seconds past before she cleared her throat and continued, "I'm Lexi, Lexi Monroe."

She held out her hand quickly and locked eyes with him expectantly before watching with a relieved feeling as he crossed the distance that he had put between himself and her bed and reached over to shake her hand, "Tony Stark."

His hand was warm, rough and calloused from all the tinkering he did and she couldn't help but glance down at his left hand and see the bare ring finger. He noticed her eyes flicker down and he pulled his hand away as she did before smirking, "I like to keep my playboy status."

"I bet you do." She murmured with a hint of a smile before biting her lower lip in quiet thought.

"Look.." Lexi started to explain, she had every intention of explaining who she was, what she was and how she knew what exactly those demonic beings were. That was until the door flew open and in walked a dark skinned man with an eye patch and a tall, broad shouldered man with a shirt that was a size too small for his large biceps whom she immediately recognized as Steve Rogers.

"What the heck Stark?"

"What in fucks sake is going on here?"

Both voices yelled out as two SHIELD agents came close behind the men with their guns drawn. Lexi's eyes widened and she looked from Tony to the two men to the SHIELD agents with their guns and instinctively she flourished her wings in a way that made them appear bigger. She leaned up farther now, her hands bracing the railing of the bed as if she were going to fly over it at any moment.

Guns on her didn't sit well and guns on Tony stirred something else entirely in her belly that was akin to fierce protection. "Put the guns away, now!" Lexi's voice was calm, but eerily demanding and Tony's eyes widened while his brows shot up. He stood carelessly, not even tensing at the sight of guns being brandished.

"I certainly wouldn't mess with this one, Fury." Tony deadpanned and smirked widely as Fury gave a look of resigned anger, "Put your guns away." When the SHIELD agents complied Steve walked right up to Tony, "Just couldn't help yourself, huh?"

Tony flashed a smile and turned towards Lexi so that she could see them both from the angle they were speaking to one another. She could sense the tension between the two hot headed men and parted her lips to speak, but before she could get anything out Tony interjected, "Oh, you know I've never been a follow orders kind of guy."

Steve rolled his eyes and Fury stepped forward, "I wanna know what's going on here and fast. I said no one was to come in here and brief her, but me. Now, pray tell Tony, why you are going to such lengths to be a pain in my ass today?"

Tony caught Fury's angered gaze and Lexi felt as if she weren't even in the room, which was funny in itself since she was the one with the large white wings.

"I was just walking by and the door so happen to be open..." Tony quipped with a snarky expression while Steve crossed his arms, "Tony, cut the crap." Tony put his hand over his chest, "Ouch, language Cap!" Steve made a movement, but Fury held his hands out to the two men.

"He knows something, Fury! He's been acting weird about this whole situation. The way I see it you're the only one in the group that's acting suspicious. And this proves it."

Tony looked as if he was slapped in the face and he stepped up to Steve so their faces mere inches away from one another. Tony's jaw clenched and the playful ire Lexi had seen moments ago was completely gone, "You like to point fingers a lot, Rogers. You know that? For such a high and mighty tool you really-"

"Oh, please. This has nothing to do with me. You just love to change the subject, don't you?"

Lexi opened her mouth to speak, but her voice fell on deaf ears. Except for Fury. He glanced her way and she gave him an incredulous look and he returned her gaze with one that said volumes without speaking. She could tell he was exasperated, but the two men before her were so lost in their argument they hadn't even noticed Lexi's face changing from annoyance to anger.

No one had even asked for her opinion. No one had even tried to ask her what was happening. Two petulant men fighting like boys. She didn't even know them that well, but she could see the unresolved tension rolling off of them in waves. The two SHIELD agents had already crept out and disappeared under Fury's signal, which had been lost to the guys since they weren't even paying attention.

"Make this easier on everyone and just admit that you know something about-"

Lexi exploded in anger, "Oh, stop it! Stop it you two!" The two men turned around as if they realized she had still been in the room and her eyes glinted with an ire that had them stopping in their tracks from saying another word. Fury turned and she saw he almost looked relieved for the outburst.

"I pulled Tony from the wormhole at the battle of New York. He doesn't know me anymore than I know him. I caught a glimpse of him recently while I was flying..it was my fault. I came too close to the tower and he saw me."

Lexi had been moving her eyes from Tony, to Steve to the man with the eye patch as she spoke, never once letting her eyes linger too long on Tony's, but at the end she let her gaze rest on Tony's astonished one and she shrugged sheepishly, "I just-I guess I wanted to make sure you were okay."

There was a blush creeping on her cheeks and whether it was from the anger that had flushed her, or being on the spot with the truth she didn't know. As she looked up into the depths of Tony's eyes she saw amazement, wonder, shock and a mild look of disbelief. She saw the way his demeanor at the mention of the battle of New York and especially when she mentioned the wormhole.

Despite his cocky exterior, she could see the pain flash in his eyes before anyone in the room could register it. He hid it quite well.

"You did this for a total stranger?" Steve asked incredulously, his brows knitted together and wave of respect forming from his demeanor. He shifted away from Tony and took a step towards and Lexi as she shrugged lightly, "It felt like the right thing to do...righteous Angel and all." She smiled wryly and flicked her wings for emphasis.

"Wait-back up, I'm sorry am I missing something? You claim you pulled me from the wormhole, but no one saw you that day." Tony interjected. He wasn't necessarily unconvinced, but he was trying to use logic and reason to rationalize something so bizarre.

"You're an Angel?" Steve asked right after Tony's question and Lexi looked between the two men, clearly feeling overwhelmed and Fury stepped forward, "From here on out, I'm asking all the questions. She'll be briefed by me. If you two can't keep your mouths shut then I suggest you walk out right now."

Tony and Steve shifted uncomfortably and she saw Tony's jaw twitch in irritation before he promptly walked across the room and leaned against the wall while Steve walked to an adjacent wall. Fury pulled up a chair and cocked his head to the side, "Name's Nick Fury. Director of SHIELD. Heard of me?" Lexi shook her head no and Fury shrugged, "No matter. Let's get on with it."

He saw her shift uncomfortably and he asked testily, "Is now not a good time?" Lexi shook her head, "No, no-I mean, it's fine. Let's get it over with." Fury nodded and started his barrage of questions.

They ranged from her name to where she was from and then came the big one, "What are you, Ms. Monroe?" Steve and Tony looked up at her on this question, their gazes burning her with their intensity. "I'm a Halfling. I'm half Angel and half human. I'm no mutant or crazy science experiment gone wrong. I'm an Angel. We exist. As do demons."

Fury looked slightly unconvinced, but he couldn't deny the large spread of white wings flowing behind her, "Alright, Ms. Monroe. For shits and giggles, you're half Angel. As you can tell I'm a straight to the point kind of guy..what do you know about the demonic creatures my team fought the other day? How are you involved in all this?"

Lexi felt a cold chill run over body and she glanced up at Tony for a moment, recalling the moment she placed herself between the demonic entity and Tony. "I know about as much as you do, honestly." Fury gave her a look and she relented "I've been having dreams lately. At first I didn't think they were anything in particular, but then I realized I was seeing things before they were happening. I could see the people in the robes; I could feel the darkness as if it were a physical thing."

They all stared at her as she clenched her eyes closed, as if she remembered the pain she felt from the dreams. And she did. When she opened them Fury was staring at her with a half concerned look and she swallowed thickly.

"They got more intense until finally I was able to see something in my dream. I did some research and found out where I needed to investigate and that led me to being there at the same time that day. It was purely coincidence."

"Or fate."

Steve's lithe voice made her snap to him and despite Fury's orders to remain quiet she found his words ironic. And a part of his words hit her soul..fate. It was a funny thing, but was this truly one of those moments?

"Or fate." She repeated in agreement while Tony stared at her with unreadable eyes. Something about her seemed to have shaken Tony and she didn't know if it was her or maybe the talk about the battle of New York that had him a little cagey.

Fury leaned close and eyed her wearily with his only good eye. She briefly wondered where he had gotten such an innury and how, "Can you give me anything on what is going on here? Anything at all? Because right now I got three people at large that reportedly sprouted black wings. You see how this looks?"

Lexi chewed on her lip again, a nervous habit she had gotten from her mom, before looking at Fury with a tinge of fear in her own eyes, "They call him Abbadon."

The room was so silent you could hear a sewing needle drop. And she could tell that the mere mention of the name had everyone on edge.

"Forget what you've heard or read about Angels and Demons being folklore. It's all very, very real. I assure you. And you all just met one of the most dangerous demons to walk the Earth."

Tony groaned, "Perfect. This day just keeps getting better."

Fury mulled this over before countering, "Okay, so he's a demonic asshole. But, what does he want?"

Lexi shrugged, "Honestly, I have no idea. But, whatever those people in the robes did manifested them. They were given bodies to be hosts in. They are here and they are real. And it'll only take them a day or two to really come into all their dark powers." The room was thick with tension, but Lexi continued noting that her voice turned into somewhat of a plea, "I don't know why I've ended up here, but I do know I can help."

"She's got a point, Fury." Stark deadpanned and Fury whipped around to eye him sternly, "If I wanted your opinion I'd have asked for it." He turned to look back at Lexi, "And what about you? You say everything is real..why aren't you floating around with the other Angels? And better yet, why the hell aren't they down here taking care of the problem?"

This hit a nerve and she flushed a deep red from mild embarrassment, "I've told you I was a Halfling, but I haven't explained what that means. My mother was human and my father, Peter, he was an Angel. Unfortunately, Halflings don't serve any purpose to the Angels or the Council."

"You have a Council?" Fury asked curiously and this time his tone didn't sound unbelieving. She nodded silently before continuing, "Halflings aren't meant to be Guardians, go on missions or anything that a normal Angel would. Sadly, we have no purpose. We're kind of cast aside so long as we don't cause trouble. There aren't many Halflings..some have been known to go mad at not having a purpose. And I have no idea why the Angels aren't doing anything. They have been extremely quiet, no signs or anything from them."

She caught Steve's gaze; it was empathetic and sad for her plight and how she had no purpose. She shrugged lightly under everyone's scrutiny until Tony quipped, "So, basically you're the red headed step child of your kind?" A light, airy laugh left her lips and Fury didn't chastise Tony from speaking this time. "Basically, yes."

Tony made a _pfft_ noise and shrugged, "Being normal is overrated anyways." She felt her lips upturn into a genuine smile at his attempts to make her situation not sound so profoundly sad. Fury continued, "Okay, back up now to the battle of New York. You seem to have been involved in quite a few things haven't you, Ms. Monroe? Still coincidence?" Lexi felt put on the spot and swallowed thickly under his scrutiny.

"I was minding my own business that day when all hell broke loose. I acted on instinct and before I knew it I was flying up, farther and farther..I saw him. I saw the red and gold shining so bright and I saw him floating closer and closer to the wormhole. I'd never flown so close to something like that and I didn't have my armor on." She stopped abruptly and realized how foolish it had been to attempt a feat like that without her lifesaving armor.

"I was able to grab him. I had him, but I lost my hold on him-I-I-blacked out.." Lexi could feel herself hyperventilating at the mere thought of what had happened..the panic and utter failure she felt. She briefly met Tony's eyes, but they were a mask of emotions and she couldn't put her finger on what he was thinking or feeling. His intensity held her captive for a second.

"And then I fell..I fell and woke up in a heap in some scaffolding from part of a building. I thought I was dead for a moment because I flew up without my armor on. I thought I needed that to protect me, but clearly I'm still alive even without my armor."

They all stared incredulously at her, but Fury stared with a mixture of realization at all that she had said. He could tell by her demeanor alone she wasn't lying, but that was something Fury had picked up on doing what he did for so long. The girl wasn't lying, if anything she had saved Tony Stark's life that day.

"You can heal easily, then." Fury noted while looking over her in a way that was no way uncomfortable, but merely curious. "Clearly." She noted shortly before adding, "I was taught I needed my armor, but I think my father just wanted that for extra protection. I was never told that my body was damn near unbreakable."

"You didn't know Tony before the New York incident though?" Steve asked and Lexi shook her head, "No, like I said, I just acted on instinct." Tony chewed on the inside of his cheek, mulling this over, "Well, excuse me for not having an input, but I don't remember much…seeing as I was almost floating into a wormhole."

Lexi gave him a look and Steve rolled his eyes, but even Steve could tell Tony was still reeling from his anxiety that the battle had given him. There was a moment of silence before Tony broke it, "I was right. You definitely jump into danger without thinking, don't you?"

"Remind you of anyone?" Steve interjected and Tony gave him an eye roll of his own knowing he couldn't say anything. Tony and her were alike in that sense…act now and ask questions later. Lexi couldn't help but smirk listening to the two and their playful banter. It was better than when they were angry at one another.

Fury sighed heavily and stood up from his seat, "Alright, you have any family here, Ms. Monroe?" Lexi started to shake her head _yes_ , but decided against it. Her mother was family, but she was safe and sound in her nursing home. She wouldn't involve her.

"You have a place here in the city?" Fury asked, but for some reason she had a feeling he already knew certain things about her from pulling records. She nodded and Fury looked back to Steve and Tony, "I'll have you accompany her to gather her things." Lexi straightened up on the bed further and shoved her fists into the mattress to lift herself up, "My things?"

Fury started to walk away, but turned around quickly on his heels, "Yes, your things, Ms. Monroe." He paused and realized she hadn't caught up to where his mind was going, "The way I see it your know more about this than any of us here put together. We might just need your assistance, Ms. Monroe."

Lexi furrowed her brows, taking in everything he was saying and realizing it was all happening extremely fast, "But, why do I need to come here?" Her anxiety heightened briefly before seeing the calm and measured look Fury sent her.

"It'll be easier this way." His voice held a firm tone to it, but he quickly followed up after a moment, "I'd like to hear more about your family and your abilities, Ms. Monroe." She nodded silently as Fury started to walk out the door leaving her with Steve and Tony and their own looks of surprise equaled her own.

"What do you think?" Tony asked Steve as his eyebrow perked up in interest to hear what he might have to say. "I say she's all we got right now, like Fury said." Steve responded before looking over at Lexi and walking up to her, all the while holding out his hand, "Steve Rogers." She took his warm hand in her own and shook it, slightly in a daze from what had just transpired before murmuring her name quietly.

Tony flashed a small smile and held out his phone, "I'll have Happy pull a car around for us. I call shotgun!" He let his eyes linger on Lexi for a moment longer than they should have, "Welcome aboard, Ms. Monroe."

Tony then left out the door he had come in, and just as quickly too. However, from his gaze she had a feeling their conversation about everything was far from over.

"I'm sorry, for all of this." Lexi mumbled sheepishly before picking a stray thread from the blanket that covered her. Steve looked a little lost and he knitted his eyebrows together, "For what?" She shrugged and looked around, "My people's problems have now become Earth's problems."

Steve gave her a half amused smile and shook his head as if there wasn't anything any of them could really do about it. "Well, for what it's worth I'm glad the right side got to you first. I have a feeling we'll need your help." Lexi looked up to see Steve giving her a warm smile and she returned it happily.

"I'll send Natasha up to bring you a change of clothes." Steve started to walk towards the door and Lexi furrowed her brows, "The red haired woman?" He nodded to her question and then slipped out the door, leaving her to relax for a few moments by herself and collect her thoughts.

 _Maybe fate has something in store for me yet..._


	10. Off We Go

**Author's Note:** This was supposed to be a lot longer, but my laptop is acting up terribly. UGH I'll split the chapter into two. Stay tuned for another chapter in a couple of days!

* * *

 **Off We Go**

Lexi let out a long winded breath and pushed herself off the infirmary bed, her thoughts running around like a fury of flutters.

 _The Avengers wanted her help._

 _They knew about her being half Angel._

 _The world probanly needed saving._

 _No pressure whatsoever, right?_

She bit her lower lip in nervous thought. The immense amount of information that had just been exchanged had given her a minor headache.

She rubbed her temples and looked up expectantly at the door as the knobbed turned. This time the red headed woman from the battle walked in with hesitance.

She was clad in black suited outfit that looked like she was ready to head out to battle at any moment, a gun at her hip and eyes that could cut glass with a mere glance.

But the stack of clothes and pair of shoes in her hands looked more like she was doing laundry than battle. Lexi cleared her throat and the woman stopped abruptly about a foot or so from the bed.

Her eyes immediately landed on her wings and Lexi smiled meekly as the woman arched a perfectly groomed brow that matched the shade of her hair.

"So, you're an Angel?"

Lexi smiled guiltily and quickly came to the conclusion this woman was blunt and to the point. She didn't seem like a woman you'd like to cross either, what with the lethal gaze and all.

"Half Angel, but yeah that would be me. Lexi Monroe."

Lexi held out her hand before noticing the woman hesitate for a split second. Her bright eyes staring at Lexi's hand before setting the clothes on the bed and shaking Lexi's hand.

"Natalia Romanoff, but you can just call me Natasha."

Lexi heard the hint of a Russian accent falling off the woman's pouty lips.

Lexi let go of her hand before Natasha pointed to the clothes on the bed, "I got a few things, wasn't sure of your size, but I thought this was a good start."

Lexi thumbed through the clothes for a moment before returning a kind smile her way, "Thank you, I appreciate it. I'm not a fashionista, but this hospital gown isn't really my color."

At this remark, the hardened woman smirked and Lexi felt the smallest of ice break between them. Natasha spoke up, "That and it's not realistic if you get into a fight while you're out there."

Lexi stared at the woman's outfit, her eyes zeroing in on the gun and she furrowed her brows, "You're an Avenger as well?"

Natasha nodded curtly and heaved a heavy sigh, "When the need calls for it, yes." She flicked her eyes to Lexi's and added, "I prefer to work alone though."

Lexi nodded lightly and remembered the bickering from Steve and Tony. It was no wonder she would prefer to work alone because the testosterone in the room was enough to give her a blistering headache.

A light smirk appeared on Lexi's face, nodding towards the door Steve and Tony had left out of it, "Seeing those two argue would be enough for me to want to work alone."

Natasha rolled her eyes, shook her head and crossed her arms across her chest, "Trust me, sometimes I just want to knock their heads together."

Lexi laughed lightly and part of her didn't doubt that Natasha had actually knocked their heads together before.

"Yeah, after a few minutes of hearing it back and forth I kind of exploded."

Natasha stared at her wings and Lexi cast a glance back at them before returning her gaze back to the sleek Avenger. Natasha furrowed her brow, "Sorry, just never seen anything like it."

Lexi held up a hand, "Don't apologize. From a human's point of view I can see where this might be...odd." Natasha was gazing at the wings in awe while murmuring quietly, "Not odd, just..different."

It was weird from Lexi's point of view when she would watch a regular human become enchanted by her aura and her wings. Lexi didn't think she was that breathtaking, but she knew her wings and aura made her more appealing in a sense.

Natasha cleared her throat and averted her gaze, "So you'll you helping us with this case, I heard?"

Lexi nodded and before she could say anything else the door opened and Tony popped in, stopping shortly as he saw Natasha in the room. Lexi could have sworn she saw him frown slightly.

"Ah, I see you're already in the devil's clutches." Tony remarked, giving Natasha a side eye to which Natasha rolled her eyes.

"Hello to you to, Tony."

Tony smiled a stupid shit eating grin before nodding at the door behind him, "Happy's here. We should probably get going." Lexi looked at the clothes Natasha had loaned her and raised a brow, "I need to get dressed first."

Tony's smile widened, "I could you help you with that. If you'd like.."

Natasha groaned and started walking towards the door, looping her arm in Tony's and pulling him with her, "We're going. Now!"

Tony gave Lexi an impish grin before Natasha turned around gave her an apologetic look, all the while Lexi felt her cheeks burning a deep scarlet.

She willed her wings to close up and pull back into her body, the feeling tickling her skin and making her grimace slightly. She always felt better with her wings fully expanded.

When the door closed, Lexi acted quickly, pulling on the pair of blue skinny jeans and looking at the length before frowning slightly.

They were a tad bit too long, but Lexi folded them up a bit and then shoved her feet inside the pair of white flats that surprisingly fit.

She tugged the hospital gown off over her head and felt a little relieved her bra was still on...which meant no one had see her bosom.

Lexi then tugged on the black camisole over her bra and shoved her arms into the white fitted blazer that Natasha had left.

She eyed the outfit for a moment and wondered if the woman actually ever wore white. Or did she just pull out a lighter shade for Lexi's benefit?

Natasha seemed like a black or red type of woman when it came to outfits, definitely not white. Regardless, Lexi appreciated the gesture and was relieved to see the clothes, for the most part, fit her well.

She fixed the blazer, straightening it a bit and then fluffed her locks of blonde hair out from under the collar. Lexi started towards the door and before opening it she paused to take a breath.

When she opened the door she was surprised to find Tony waiting outside, fumbling with his hands in an ever so slightly display of nervousness.

"That was quick." Tony noted, giving her a curious once over with his eyes before nodding down the long hall.

She fell into step with him quickly.

Tony was wearing a three quarter length Motley Crue shirt, dark pants and a pair of expensive shoes, which was a stark contrast to his usual visually stimulating outfits that she saw him wear on the television.

His right hand was adorned with a black watch that she found intriguing and quite masculine, despite the casual apparel. Tony's hair was perfectly situated though with not a stray strand in sight.

Lexi shrugged at his comment, "I don't spend much time primping, Mr. Stark. But, I can tell you do."

"Ouch." Tony feigned hurt and placed a hand on his chest for emphasis, but smirked in her direction as if the dig wasn't taken too much to heart.

"And please, call me Tony."

He stressed this last part and she forgot from their last interaction he preferred first name basis. She nodded lightly at his request and made a mental note to call him Tony from here on out.

They stopped in front of an elevator and Tony pressed the button that indicated they'd be going down.

Lexi looked at him and Tony fumbled with his sunglasses while asking, "You ready to join a rag tag group of misfits?" Lexi laughed lightly as the elevator chimed and he held out a hand indicating her to walk in first.

She also made a mental note of the subtle gestures of chivalry.

Once inside, she placed her hands in front of her, clasping them together while answering his question with a question, "Join?"

Tony quirked a half smile, "Temporarily, of course." She nodded lightly and smiled, "I think I'm up for the challenge."

Tony smirked, "You like a good challenge, Ms. Monroe?" Her eyes met his and that sudden spark she had seen the moment he walked in the infirmary was back again.

"Depends, and please..call me Lexi."

He nodded curtly, "Duly noted."

He held her gaze and she shifted in the elevator so that she was facing him. She saw the subtle way his eyes cast down at her shifting weight and the hint of surprise that lingered on his eyes now that she was looking right at him.

"It depends if the challenge is worth my time." She remarked casually.

 _When have you ever been so bold?_

Her mind was doing somersaults at her boldness today. Lexi typically shied away from this sort of interaction with men.

Being what she was usually meant a pint of ice cream, The Notebook and a deep rooted ball of emptiness that she hid extremely well..she was far from the girl that went out partying.

Her wings had a mind of their own sometimes depending on her emotions, so she really had to live a reclusive lifestyle. It was just too dangerous to include a partner in her for a multitude of reasons.

Tony held her gaze for a brief second, the smoldering in his eyes noted as well as the bashful smile that graced his face for half a second.

The elevator indicated they were at the ground level. Lexi hadn't even realized they were moving, much less reached their destination.

He ushered her out first and as they walked through the Avengers Tower bottom floor she watched as a few people passed by carrying clipboards, and among the group of people were Natasha and Nick Fury.

Nick stopped Tony and Lexi, assessing her new outfit and speaking quickly while the women with clipboards looked in a hurry next to Fury.

"We're going to do some recon on the targets. As of now, they've disappeared. We can't get a read on them. When you get back we'll regroup."

Lexi stiffened beside Tony and her eyes widened, "Gone?" She got a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach at this. Tony reached up to her grasp her elbow lightly to get her attention, "We'll find them, Lexi."

His voice was sincere and even she could see the adamant gleam to his dark eyes. They all wanted to capture the demons.

Fury looked to Lexi and eyed her curiously, "Ms. Monroe, I'd like to see you in our training room later." Lexi smiled and nodded curtly not knowing what that meant. Natasha could tell she was confused, but everything had happened so quickly there was no time for explanations.

Tony smirked, "I'll get her home safe, Fury." He saluted Fury, to which Fury rolled his eyes while Natasha eyed Lexi's outfit with approval.

"It fit." Natasha's relief was genuine when she spoke. Lexi looked down at it and then back at Natasha with enthusiasm, "Yes, it did. Good eye."

Natasha smiled, nodding her head before walking away with Fury and the ladies with clipboards.

"Okay, what's the training room?" Lexi whispered in a daze as the others were out of earshot and Tony's eyes seemed to light up at her question.

"Oh, it's where we get to beat each other up." He answered shortly with a smug smile. Lexi laughed lightly as she hadn't really thought about the training room being a place where they fought one another.

"I don't have to fight the green guy, do I?" Lexi's eyebrows knitted together in concern and Tony smirked, "No, but I have a feeling you'd give Bruce a run for his money."

She smiled at the compliment before Tony ushered her outside to where a large black SUV was waiting. The back door opened and Steve stepped out, his baseball cap hiding his hair.

He was adorned in a dark navy blue shirt that was tight over his arms and a pair of blue jeans with brown shoes that didn't look all too bad with the color blue shirt he wore.

"Oh, look its boy wonder." Tony mocked shortly and Steve shook his head before opening the back door for Lexi to get in.

"You're both coming?" She asked looking between the two and Tony rocked on his heels, stuffing his hands in his pockets, "Yep, got expensive merchandise. Can't let it get away."

She rolled her eyes before pulling herself into the back of the SUV when a window rolled down in the front center part, like a limousine would have.

A short, but slightly stout man turned to look at Lexi curiously. He smiled widely and Lexi smiled back, "Happy, I presume?" He nodded nervously and his cheeks held a hue of red when he spoke, "At your service."

Tony and Steve had already climbed in, with Tony sitting across from her and Steve taking the seat next to her. "Happy, eye's on the road." Tony barked with a humorous overtone and Happy groaned.

Lexi gave Tony a look and turned in her seat, putting her seatbelt on while Steve did the same. "Seatbelt." Lexi chimed out as Tony had been the only one to not put his on.

Tony stared at her, clearly grinding his teeth in agitation before Happy turned around with a smug smile, "All parties must have their seatbelt on before the vehicle will take off."

"Oh for heaven's sake.." Tony grumbled and threw his seatbelt on in a fit of annoyance while Lexi bit her lower lip to stifle a laugh.

Tony's eyes met hers he quirked a black brow at her, "Better?" She nodded like a child that had gotten what she wanted while Steve cracked a wide smile in silence.

Happy looked in the rearview mirror, "Where to?" Lexi opened her mouth to say her address, but Tony interjected.

"Brooklyn. 205 Ashland Place near Fort Green Park."

Lexi stared open mouthed at Tony before finding her voice, "Stalker much?" Tony smirked, "No, it's called doing my homework."

She looked to Steve for help and he shrugged lightly, "That's Tony for you."

When she looked back at Tony he was smiling widely. She ground her teeth for a moment and wondered what else he could have looked up; she narrowed her eyes at him for a brief second wondering if he knew about her mom in the nursing home.

If he did, he hadn't said anything..yet.

With Steve shifting nervously beside her and Tony gazing up at the skyscraper buildings they passed Lexi bit her lower lip in quiet thought.

It wasn't until she looked up at Tony that she saw the shadow that passed over his face as he stared up. She had a feeling she knew what he was thinking and the anxiety was written on his face.

The wormhole incident had done a number on him.

There was a brief second where he caught her staring at him and he averted his gaze quickly, recomposing himself.

And just like that, his inner struggles were buried back beneath his cool and calm facade of perfection. She had only known him for a moment, but she saw right through the act.

And for some reason his struggles upset her more than it should have for not really knowing him. Lexi shifted in her seat, the three finally falling into a comfortable silence together as Happy continued to manuver them out of New York City traffic.

* * *

 **End Note:** Laptop totally messed up around this part so I cut it short. I promise to give an update in a couple days. It'll start right where this one left off. We all know Steve will have something to say about her being in Brooklyn! XD


	11. Visions

**Author's Note:** Here's a lengthy chapter for you guys. Hope you enjoy. I'm really enjoying all these little moments between tony / lexi!

* * *

 **Visions**

Lexi fumbled with her hands as the SUV picked up speed, gliding them down the roads and maneuvering them out of traffic. It wasn't until a lithe and curious voice jolted her from the silence.

It was Steve.

"So, you're a Brooklyn girl?" He smiled with one side of his mouth, not showing his teeth, but interested all the same. She nodded enthusiastically.

"Yeah, I am, but I'm not from Brooklyn. We lived in the city for a long time, but my parents never could keep me off the subway. I found myself wandering around Brooklyn a heck of a lot as a teenager and it just seemed more my style."

"It's away from the bustle of the big city. Where I live is quiet, less than stellar citizens live in my complex, but I'm not trying to stand out either."

Tony was quiet as his eyes danced between the two of them while they exchanged words. Steve nodded at her response, an appreciative smile gracing his face as she continued.

"Being what I am requires a little..seclusion."

She met Steve's eyes and for a moment they looked incredibly sad as he realized the burden she carried on her shoulders being what she was and not ever being able to share it with anyone. Lexi turned from Steve's gaze as Tony spoke up, "Until now."

She met his eyes and for some reason the prospect of not having to hide herself away forever made a flurry of butterflies take off in her stomach. She realized quickly what she was feeling was hope and it was making its presence known.

Lexi looked between the two of them and pointed from one to the other, "So, how'd you end up here, as an Avenger?"

The newspapers didn't give nearly as much information as she'd have liked and all most people knew was that a group of people with superhuman abilities and among them, SHIELD agents, were grouped together to save New York City.

Steve looked out the window for a brief moment and returned his gaze to Lexi, "I tried to join World War Two after some...persistence. I ended up volunteering for the Super Soldier program and met Howard Stark."

There was a pregnant pause in the conversation as Steve slid his eyes over to Tony's and Lexi was quiet as she knew, like the whole world did, that Tony's parents had since been deceased.

"HYRDA was an evil organization that had something called a Tesseract. We were enlisted to stop HYRDRA and get the Tesseract back." Lexi furrowed her brows in confusion, "We?"

Steve looked away uncomfortably for a moment before looking down at his hands, "My best friend, Bucky, he and I..we were best friends. He didn't make it on a mission."

She felt her forehead crease into a frown, her heart tugging as she could sense the pain radiating from Steve's aura. He sighed heavily, "And on the last mission I crashed into the Arctic. Luckily, Howard found the Tesseract, but I wasn't found until seventy years later by SHIELD."

Lexi had heard stories, but not everything was given freely in the papers and not everything was to be trusted either. When she was younger she had heard stories about Captain America, but to her he was a mascot of the World War II propaganda that she read about.

"It must have been difficult..re-adjusting to all of this." Lexi murmured quietly, digesting the story and realizing all of these people carried burdens and hardships on their shoulders; and loss.

"Yeah, try giving him a smart phone and see what happens." Tony interjected with a small smirk and Steve rolled his eyes..Lexi let out a breathy laugh before Tony continued.

"Then SHIELD brought us all together to save the world once again since Thor's evil adopted brother, Loki, decided it would be great to steal the Tesseract from SHIELD and build an army of aliens. Now, we-" Tony stopped and pointed at himself and Steve, "Are one big dysfunctional family."

Tony smiled widely, albeit a little sarcastically, and Steve shrugged his shoulders while Lexi perked up at the name Loki. "Loki, The God of Mischief?" She looked between the two like a giddy school girl as Happy crossed over the Brooklyn Bridge. She couldn't help it; these myths and stories brought a nostalgic emotion out of her.

"Please don't tell me you're friends with Loki." Tony deadpanned with a less than enthused look on his face. Lexi laughed lightly, "No, of course not. But, I've grown up around tales and stories about him, among other Gods and Goddesses. My father would tell me stories as a child before bed. I always thought the God of Mischief was funny, however my dad didn't really think so."

"Well, when he shows up on your doorstep with a Chitauri Army it's not so funny anymore." Tony noted sarcastically and she smirked lightly, "Let's hope that doesn't happen again." Steve looked to Lexi curiously, "So, I take it you'd already heard of stories about Thor as well?"

Lexi nodded enthusiastically, "The moment some of the leaked pictures started showing up in the paper I recognized Thor from seeing his hammer. It was like seeing your childhood fables come to life."

She quieted for a moment before adding, "It's all still a little surreal, isn't it? I mean, superheroes, Gods, lethal SHIELD agents." She trailed off absentmindedly, the feeling making her swoon slightly if she thought too hard about it.

"But we're necessary." Steve stated, before continuing, "There are a lot of bullies out there in the world. Even if we can't save everyone we have a responsibility to protect the innocent." Steve's voice was firm and it held a very patriotic ring to it that Lexi respected.

Tony seemed to agree, though he was silent she could see the firm belief in his eyes that they were the world's saviors and that they had to do what was necessary to protect others from harm.

"I take it your people don't feel the same way unless you're a full blooded Angel, correct?" Tony asked with a tone that sounded as if he disapproved of the High Council's judgement on Halflings.

She nodded slowly, "Like I said Halflings are taboo and quite shunned. We aren't worthy of missions or being Guardians because at the end of the day we're part human." She shrugged lightly as if the situation didn't send a flurry of emptyness to her belly. She hid it well, but something about Tony's gaze made her think he saw right through her.

Tony readjusted his posture in his seat while adding sarcastically, "Well, they sound like a very accepting group of people." She bit her lip and looked down, not daring to say anything bad about the High Council; you never knew who was listening.

"You know what I think?" Tony interjected again after a brief silence had over taken the SUV from his last comment. Lexi shook her head silently as Tony continued, "I think their loss is our gain."

She smiled at Tony and he smiled as well before her eyes snuck a glance at Steve, "You wouldn't have to hide who you are with us. Just keep that in mind, Lexi."

Lexi looked down, a flash of scarlet appearing on her cheeks from both their sentiments. She nodded silently and Happy continued into Brooklyn albeit a bit faster than she had thought. As they pulled up to her complex, Happy stopped out front and hopped out while coming around to open the door.

"He really doesn't have to do that." Lexi murmured, not used to the hospitality. "Happy's fine, he likes to be needed." Tony smirked and Steve hopped out first, followed by Lexi and then Tony taking up the rear.

They looked up at the less than stellar color of the brick and the mildly busy sidewalks. A group of teenagers rode by on their skateboards without so much as even noticing the three of them standing there.

"You got about twenty minutes of being here before someone gets nosy and calls security, or a tow truck." Lexi motioned to the parking space parallel to the complex.

"Well then, let's not keep him waiting." Steve responded before Lexi led the two Avengers up the walkway and then to the elevator where a man smoking a questionable pipe walked out. Tony gave the man a double take while Steve tipped his ball cap a bit lower on his head to conceal his face a bit better.

"You're okay being around..these people?" Tony asked hesitantly while rubbing some dust off the railings once inside the elevator. The mirror behind them held a thick sheen of dust as well and she sneezed, rubbing her nose absentmindedly and shrugging.

"They leave me alone. They think I'm weird. Better than them thinking I have money. We have some robberies occur at times, but I've never been hit, thankfully." Tony was quiet in thought as the elevator dinged her floor while Steve just seemed happy to be back in Brooklyn as he smiled the entire way like a giddy child.

Lexi stepped out first, followed by her two bodyguards before walking down the hallway rather quickly and then spinning around on her heels to face Tony square in the face, "No touching anything. Got it?"

"Yepp, got it. No touchy." Tony remarked, nodding his head just as quickly as he said his words and looking away towards the window at the end of the hallway. Steve looked around for a moment before hesitating once she opened her apartment door, "I'll stay out here and keep watch."

Tony nodded, following Lexi inside while she dropped her keys on the counter and started to pillage through her belongings like a mad woman. Her mind was on clothes, shoes and personal belongings like deodorant and toothbrushes. Lexi peered back into the living room area where Tony was stuffing his hands in his pockets.

He was walking around with a careful eye while he inspected every aspect of her apartment. For a moment she watched him silently as he studied the photos on the vanity. Lexi walked out of her bedroom and crept up behind him, "That's my mom and dad."

Tony was looking at a photo of her mom from a very long time ago. Probably Lexi's teenage years and her mom was laughing, holding her sides while her father wrapped his arms around her. They had been playing tag and Lexi had snapped the photo at the right moment.

Tony had jerked ever so slightly at her words, but relaxed visibly when he saw her gazing fondly at the photo. He was quiet for a moment before setting the photo back on the vanity.

"So your mom fell in love with an Angel, huh?" He stared at the joyful couple for a moment and she could only wonder what he was thinking of when compared to his own parents.

"Tale as old as time.." Lexi hummed before offering him a small smile to which he returned, but it faltered slightly as he looked at all the other photos. "You know sometimes I'd catch my father looking at my mom like that." He pointed at a photo to which her mother was cooking and her father had been leaning against the counter top watching her with a doe eyed smile.

Lexi had a knack for catching all the perfect moments with a camera, even as a child. She quieted for a moment and got the innate sense that Howard Stark might not have looked at Tony so fondly. Or maybe not as fondly as Tony would have wanted. It wasn't a conversation she wanted to get into now.

It also wasn't her place to start to getting personal with Tony Stark. She just met the guy. "Your mom..is she?" Tony ventured abruptly. Lexi hesitated and then quickly responded, "She's gone."

It wasn't a bold face lie, but she wanted to keep her mother out of all this. She averted her gaze so she wouldn't meet Tony's eyes. "Probably need to keep packing." She murmured lamely and Tony's face was an unreadable mask as she walked back to her room.

She pulled out another suitcase and piled it with more clothes before adding her personal belongings to this one as well. She didn't know when she would be back, but thankfully the bills were on autopay so she didn't really have to worry much about that.

She chewed on her bottom lip in a nervous gesture before walking back out with her suitcases to which Tony cocked his head to the side,"You moving in?" Lexi laughed and shrugged sheepishly, "I didn't know how long this was going to take. Catching the demons might prove to be a lengthy mission."

Tony eyed the suitcases once before shuffling with something behind his back. Lexi furrowed her brows, "What do you have?"

Tony feigned innocence and looked around, "What do you mean?" He started to walk backwards towards her kitchen area and she huffed in annoyance, "I said not to touch anything."

"You mean this?" He produced a pint of ice cream from behind his back to which he already had a spoon stuck inside, which means he was going through her stuff. Lexi licked her lips, the pang of hunger for something sweet catching her off guard, but she quickly shook it off.

"I swear do you ever follow rules, Tony?"

Tony smirked, swallowing the ice cream and shaking his head, "I kind of had my fingers crossed when I promised not touch anything." He made a sorry not sorry kind of face and Lexi groaned, "Fine. It's yours. Keep it."

Tony smirked, "Oh, I planned on it. I staked my claim on this-" He paused and checked the front label before continuing, "...This Ben and Jerry's Half Baked. Mmm, you know this is some good stuff."

He dug into it again, not even noticing the ball of dark grey fluff that was starting to make its way over to him in a very sneaky way.

Apollo was on his haunches and he was gearing up for an attack on Tony who was so spoon deep into her ice cream that he failed to see the grey feline down below.

Lexi kept quiet and watched as Apollo ran full speed at Tony, his tail a big ball of puff and then sliding across the floor only to collide with Tony's shoes. It made sense when Lexi saw one of his shoes laces were untied, which was what Apollo had been eyeing from afar.

Tony jerked and looked down mid scoop at Apollo who was batting around his shoe laces like they were hockey pucks. Lexi laughed and Tony frowned, "Uh, what is this?"

He didn't seem enthused and he stepped away from Apollo, to which Apollo followed the untied laces around, swishing his tail back and forth in anticipation for another attack.

Lexi strolled to Apollo and casually picked up the grey Russian Blue, stroking his fur and hearing the telltale sounds of gratitude and love coming from deep within him.

He hummed from his purr and attempted to knock his head against Lexi's jaw in affection. Tony quickly tied his shoe before standing back up and eyeing the cat as if it were an evil gremlin.

"This is not a what, it's a who; his name is Apollo."

Lexi stated simply as if it was obvious. She cooed at Apollo and Tony frowned. "Uh, well whoever he is he's not coming to the Avengers Tower. No pets allowed."

"What?" Lexi asked loudly, outraged at the fact that Tony seemed to be a little callous and cold when it came to animals. She had to remind herself that everyone had different upbringings and someone such as the Starks, well, it wasn't like they screamed animal people.

They were much too busy for those kinds of responsibilities.

Tony sighed, setting the pint down and pinching the bridge of his nose and for a moment he looked up at Apollo, to which she thrust Apollo at Tony to get a look at. "How can you say no to this?" Lexi asked with frustration.

Tony reared his head back as if the cat would gouge his eyes out. Apollo simply blinked at Tony before reaching a paw up to try and paw at his face. Lexi had to stifle the laugh that made its way to her gut as Tony looked at Apollo the with the funniest expression.

He was conflicted. Not even Tony Stark could run away from the uber cuteness of a cat.

Tony looked like he was about to consider it, but a voice from the hallway caused Lexi to put Apollo down and then a scuffle could be heard as the shouts got louder. Tony and Lexi started towards the door, but Steve barged into her apartment, closing the door behind him and dragging in Landon.

Landon was angry and his eyes danced between Lexi and Tony before Lexi put her hands up, "Hey, hey, let him go. It's my friend, Landon!" Steve hesitated, but only for a moment before Landon looked back up at Steve, "Damn man, you really have to do that?"

Landon rubbed his hands as they had been clasped behind his back in an uncomfortable position while Steve drug him inside. "Well, you got irate. I told you to keep your voice down." Steve replied cooly to which Lexi rubbed a hand over her ever growing weary face.

"Landon, what are you doing here?" She asked, exasperated. It was only then Landon realized Tony Stark stood beside her and his eyes widened with surprise. His eyes looked to Lexi and then at Tony, back and forth before he pointed at Tony, "Tony Stark?"

Landon was dumbfounded as the situation went from tense to awkward and Tony smirked, "The one and only." Tony rocked back and forth on his heels while Landon asked, "Mind telling me what's going on here?"

Lexi raised a brow at Landon, "Landon, you're in my apartment, remember?" Landon shuffled on his feet as if he just realized he had barged in demanding answers when he really had no place to be.

"I'm sorry, I saw this guy out there and I just-" Landon started with an apology and she shook her head, "Don't sweat it, Landon. It's okay, really."

She nodded at him encouragingly as if it was truly okay and that was when he eyed Steve for a moment longer and then looked back at Lexi, "But, really though..are you okay?"

Lexi nodded, sighing heavily, "Yes, I'm fine. They were just here..helping me get some of my things." Landon looked confused and he was about to talk, but Lexi walked up to him quickly, taking both his hands in her own and gripping them tightly.

There was no time for formalities and introductions.

"Landon, I need a huge favor. Like monumental." Landon sighed and nodded, "Alright, name it." Lexi looked down at Apollo who was wandering around Tony's legs, to which Tony was in turn looking down at her feline friend with uncertainty and curisoity.

"I need someone to watch Apollo for a bit. I-" She paused and looked at Steve who shook his head 'no' ever so slightly, but she caught it. She couldn't tell Landon the entire truth and she quickly changed direction with her story.

"I have something I have to do for a bit. I just-I just need you to trust me, Landon. Okay?" Landon furrowed his dark brows, gripping her hands back and chewing on his cheek as if debating on pressing her more for answers.

"You can't tell me what you're doing, can you?" Landon sighed in defeat as Lexi shook her head, confirming his suspicions. He stayed silent for a long moment.

"Alright, yeah, I'll watch Apollo. He'll be okay at my place for a while. I'll take good care of him." Landon relented and Lexi hugged him tightly while Landon hugged back. "We're past the twenty minute mark, Lexi." Tony interrupted while throwing the empty pint away in her trashcan.

Steve cleared his throat and nodded towards the luggage, "I'll get the stuff loaded up." She smiled at Steve who took the luggage out before nodding to Landon silently as a peace offering to which Landon nodded back grudgingly.

"Lexi I know you can't tell me anything, but just..be careful. Please?" Landon looked worried and Lexi gently touched his cheek as she nodded, "I'll be fine. Maybe in time I can tell you more."

He nodded back and offered a small smile, "Now you owe me another round of Americano's, you know that right?" She laughed lightly and hugged Landon again before handing Apollo over to him, "You know where his stuff is at; the litterbox and all that?"

Landon nodded, "Of course." Lexi ruffled Apollo's fur, leaning in for a kiss on the top of his head. She pulled out a copy of her apartment keys from a drawer in the kitchen and handed them over to Landon.

He took them hesitantly as if still debating on pressing her for answers.

"Thank you Landon. I owe you big time." She murmured quietly as a lump formed in her throat listening to Apollo's protesting meows and the fact that Landon was such a good friend to her.

The feline mewed sadly as Tony ushered Lexi out and with haste, leaving Lexi to look back at Landon one last time with an appreciative smile. As the three piled back into the SUV Happy pulled out from the parking spot quickly while Lexi looked back at her building sadly.

"Sorry about that." Steve offered and Lexi smiled, "Don't be. You were on bodyguard duty afterall." He chuckled softly.

"He a friend that can be trusted?" Tony asked seriously and Lexi raised a challenging brow, "He wouldn't be my friend if I couldn't trust him."

Tony's cellphone rang and he answered, he was silent for a few seconds before saying into his phone, "Say that again, Fury." Fury's voice sounded from his speaker phone, "Natasha got a lead on one of them. Get back to headquarters as soon as you can."

Everyone grew tense after Tony hung up. Lexi eyes widened and she turned quickly to look at Happy, "Step on it." He nodded dutifully and punched it as best he could given the timeof day.

Tony's eyes widened as he stared at Lexi and then Steve looked at her just the same, but Steve spoke up first, "Lexi, you're glowing." His voice waivered in disbelief.

Lexi held up her hand and looked at it before pulling it close to her chest and feeling her cheeks saturate red from a blush. "It happens when I'm...emotional. Or angry." Lexi whispered softly.

She closed her eyes before bringing her hands to her head as it felt like ice picks stabbed her brain. Images flashed behind her eyelids that alomst made her ill. They were images of death and decay, and the three demons.

Lexi could feel their darkness and it felt wrong, foreign and just plain evil. She moaned in pain and a pair of hands gripped her quickly as she started to fall forward in her seat.

"Hey, Lexi! Look at me. What's wrong? Happy, step on it damnit!" Tony's voice was demanding, but concerned as Lexi fought to open her eyes from the blistering pain in her skull.

Steve looked at Tony with worried eyes and Tony grimaced as he couldn't help the girl with whatever she was going through. Finally Lexi looked up at Tony, opening her eyes as tears of pain sprang up.

"I know what they're here for. I saw it."

Her voice was strained as she fought off the wave of nausea that gripped her stomach. Tony already had taken his seatbelt off and moved to her side of the SUV when she has fallen forward.

He endws up cradling her in the brash movement so she could lean into him as her body shook from the adrenaline rush.

"What do they want?" Steve asked quietly. Neither of them questioned what she was seeing inside her mind. They just believed her. And that was a good feeling.

She peered up at Steve through her lashes as she she gripped Tony for support, "They're going to try to break the seals of the underworld."

"Why?" Tony asked, though he felt he already knew the answer.

"To unleash Hell on Earth." Lexi whispered through clenched teeth. Both Tony and Steve looked at one another with fierce gazes. "That can't happen. We won't let it." Steve spoke boldy, but for once Lexi felt a foreboding feeling in her gut.

"We can't. Because if we lose it's not just us that will die, but everyone on Earth will too." Lexi spoke quickly through her pain. Happy flew across the Brooklyn Bridge and Tony spoke up, clearly undaunted by the fact that they'd be up against demonic forces, "Then we won't lose."

Tony's gaze was full of concern as he was at a loss on how to help the girl with her crippling pain from the vision. He felt overwhelmingly helpless and it sucked.

"I'll be okay." She whispered quietly, rubbing her temples. Tony nodded lightly, but she could see the look on his face as he eyed her wearily.

Long after the pain had subsided and her body relaxed, she noticed Tony never went back to his seat. He stayed right next to her the rest of the way back to the Tower.


	12. Won't Let You Down

**Won't Let You Down**

As soon as Happy pulled up to the Avenger's Tower, Steve was already hopping out of the vehicle and holding the door open as Lexi carefully slid out. Tony wasn't but a second behind her.

Her headache was residing slowly, but the images that had flashed across her eyelids couldn't be forgotten. They danced around in her mind on a loop that ceased to stop playing.

"My things-" Lexi had started, but Tony waved her off before turning on his heel quickly to look at Happy who had gotten out of the driver side.

"Happy!" Tony whistled and Happy looked over at his call before Tony carried on, "Get her thing's." Happy nodded dutifully and started to get her stuff.

"He didn't have to-" Lexi started again, but Tony brushed her off. "Happy likes to be helpful, he's fine." Lexi nodded before shooting Happy a small smile over her shoulder and then the three of them walked through the front doors.

Upon entering they all three stopped short as Fury and Natasha greeted them, but their faces didn't say they were here to chat over an afternoon cup of tea.

Lexi noticed Natalie's brows were drawn together and looked between the two, "So, you got a hit on one of them?" Fury nodded to her question before answering, "Surveillance from the fight was able to track down a match to the girl. Olivia Branden. Follow me."

He turned on his heels so fast the draft from his leather coat hit her. She eyed Steve, Tony and Natasha. Nat nodded her head so that they knew to follow her and Fury. She felt Tony's hand on the small of her back and for a moment she looked up to him before continuing down the main entrance until they got to the elevators.

Steve looked at Lexi, "Are you okay?" She realized with a start she was staring off at a space on the wall by the elevators and she nodded lightly, "Yeah, I'm okay." Steve nodded, but he still looked at her with a worried expression.

As they got on the elevator Lexi looked at Tony, "Should I tell him now? About my vision?" Tony was about to speak, but Fury started in first, "What vision?" Natasha furrowed her brows again, "Wait-a vision? What did you see?"

Lexi felt bombarded with questions and it showed on her flustered face before Tony waved them off, "Space, please? You're gonna smother her." Lexi felt her cheeks burn red and before she could answer their questions the elevator doors opened, and everyone ushered out.

Fury nodded to a room down the hall, "In here." The hallway was long and everything in this particular area was completely see through.

All the rooms were open and the only thing separating her and the rooms was see through glass that showed many people working behind desks and some standing while shouting orders into a headset.

They got to a room that was empty and once the door opened Bruce and Clint were already there. They were seated at the table with their arms crossed and a few file folders laid out on the table in front of them. The greetings and formalities were cut short as Fury stood at the head of the room.

Lexi couldn't help but wonder what had happened Fury's eye in battle that had given him a permanent eye patch. Her thoughts were cut short when Fury started to speak.

"You said you had a vision. Care to explain that to the rest of us folks here?" Fury gave a sweep of his hands to the other's in the room as he spoke before crossing his arms.

Lexi felt put on the spot and she immediately sought out Tony, who just so happened to be to her right.

He stood a little ways away from her, but not too far. Tony had his hands shoved in his pockets, carelessly rocking on his heels when she looked at him.

When their gaze met he raised a brow, "No going back now, Lex."

He nodded his head to everyone encouragingly, but she could see the look on his face was basically telling her he couldn't help her here, seeing as he wasn't the one who had the vision.

She looked down and licked her lips before looking back at up Fury and then meeting everyone's gaze carefully, "I think the demons are trying to break the seals to the Underworld."

"Woah-wait, like open the gates of Hell? What are we talkin' about here?" Clint asked looking somewhat startled as Nat shrugged a shoulder as if she were just as perplexed.

"Uhm, back up, you said seals. There are seals that what-they just keep the Underworld on lock down or something?" Bruce was pushing his glasses up his nose and she pinched the bridge of her nose as her headache threatened to come back.

"I've always been told as a kid that there are seals that keep the Underworld locked down tight. These seals haven't been broken once since the Angels cast out Lucifer. The seals are the only thing keeping the Underworld at bay."

Tony stared at Lexi and brought his hand up to his chin, "That's comforting." His voice was dry with sarcasm. Lexi shrugged, "It is what it is. And humans wouldn't even know what they were looking at if they did happen upon a seal."

Everyone was quiet before Fury spoke up, "Are you sure this is what they are after? What exactly did you see?"

Lexi looked up, her eyes widened, and she shook her head miserably, "I'm positive this is what they are after. And I saw-I saw the end. I got a glimpse of the destruction they plan on leaving in their wake and I could see it, the gates of Hell opening just as clearly as I'm watching all of you right now."

She didn't realize she was trembling until she felt a hand touch her elbow and she realized her wings had started to expand on their own accord. Her emotions had gotten the best of her. She could feel the death and the destruction of her vision and it sent her hormones into overdrive.

Lexi looked up to see Steve had been the one touching her left elbow gently and in her emotional state she hadn't even realized he had snuck up beside her. She gave Steve a little nod that meant she was okay and he withdrew his hand before crossing them against his own chest.

"You didn't happen to see where these seals are, did you?" Bruce asked with a hopeful gleam in his eye and Lexi blew out a breath.

"No, of course not. That'd be too easy, right?" Bruce looked down and she saw his shoulders sag and Lexi felt the brunt of it all. "I'm sorry, I feel like I'm not giving you enough to go on, but this is all I know."

Natasha shook her head, "Without you here we wouldn't know as much as we do, Lexi. We just gotta roll with what we got." Lexi nodded lightly at her words, but she still felt like she wasn't doing enough to help, and she could feel the weight of that emotion on her shoulders.

"These visions, do they tell you the future or are they just a warning?"

Steve had been quiet for most of the time, but he was the only one that could get a sense of why she felt so frazzled and this was the reason.

Were the visions just a warning?

Or were they visions of the future?

"Before, when I had visions, it was of stuff that was about to happen." She chewed on her cheek and pushed some blonde locks out of the way of her face. "When we all met that first time, I had seen that place in a vision."

Clint stared at Lexi with a bit of skepticism, "So, you're saying you don't know if what you saw today was a future vision?" Lexi nodded, but when she saw the look on his face she got a little frustrated and furrowed her brows together.

"Look, I don't know how these visions work. They started recently and without my dad-" She stopped suddenly, feeling the welling up in her throat the mention of her dad and shutting down those pent up emotions quickly.

She swallowed thickly, "Without my dad here, I don't know what to make of my visions. He'd have known, but I-I'm workin' with what I got and I'm trying." Clint furrowed his brows, "Yeah? Well try harder because I kind of would like for Earth to stay and not be swallowed up by the Underworld."

Steve looked like he was about to speak up on her behalf. A flash of anger showed on his face at Clint's tactless words, but stopped when he got a good at Lexi's shift in demeanor. She stood up straighter, raising her head to look at everyone in the room with nothing that resmebled her angelic and kind behavior.

She decided it was time to be a bit firmer, Lexi was about to take one from her father's playbook. Lexi leaned down on the table and braced the edge with her hands, while feeling her entire body hum with an energy that gave her the surge to speak her mind.

She also knew her wings had fanned out as the shadows of them could be seen dancing on the wall from the lighting in the room.

Everyone went deathly quiet.

"I'm giving you everything I know, and I'm risking everything by revealing what I am. I don't have all the damn answers, I'm not a full-blooded Angel. Like Natasha said, I am the best thing you guys have right now. All I know is that three of the most dangerous demons from Hell are walking this Earth and we must stop them before they do the unthinkable. If they get those seal's open, we are all dead."

Tony made a noise from where he stood, and Lexi looked at him. He smirked widely, all serious conversation aside, "Has anyone told you how riveting you are when you take charge?" He wiggled his brows and Lexi groaned, followed by a few groans in the room that were from Steve and Natasha.

Fury put a hand up, "Let's calm the hell down, everyone!" Fury looked to Clint who crossed his arms like a petulant child and Natasha put a hand to his arm and Lexi noticed his muscles relaxed at Natasha's touch.

"This girl, where can we find her, Fury?" Steve spoke up and she could see he was done with the nonsense between the group. Steve was ready to suit up and go after Olivia. Fury was about speak until the door to their room opened.

The man that walked in was large, bulky and full of hard muscle. He came in with a wide, slightly awkward smile, but he was already speaking even as he walked in

"Sorry I'm late, but there was a matter in Asgard I had-

Thor's words were cut short as his eyes immediately zeroed in on the girl with the angelic wing's floating above her back. His eyes lit up like Christmas morning and he damn near let Mjolnir slip from his grasp.

"By Odin's beard..." Thor's words were a loud whisper as he stood in awe at the angel before him. Lexi turned at the sight of the Norse God, his hair down in locks of gold and his buff stature overtaking the small room.

"God of Thunder.." Lexi murmured, slightly in awe, as the man before her was much bigger than she had anticipated. There were so many stories she had been told as a kid about Thor, the son of Odin, but never in a million years did she ever think she would meet the God.

Steve took a step back so that Thor and Lexi could get a proper look at one another. When her lips twitched into a smile Thor looked around the room at everyone before taking a few steps to clear the space between him and the girl.

"Uhm, what's going on?" Tony asked to no in particular as Steve stepped back a few spaces to join Tony. Steve shrugged, and everyone watched as Thor was now within arm's reach of the girl.

"What's happening?" Bruce whispered to Natasha and she shrugged before returning her gaze to Thor and Lexi.

Thor was hesitant to place a hand on the girl's shoulder, but after a moment he reached out to clear the space between the two and his large hand fell on her shoulder with a light a squeeze.

Lexi immediately felt a familiarity surge within her as his hand on her shoulder was his way of a greeting. "My mother would tell me stories of the cosmos and Angels." Thor spoke aloud, but his eyes were fixated on Lexi as her wing's hovered behind her.

"She told me she had seen one only once in her lifetime and that it took her breath away." Lexi smiled as the man spoke of a fond memory from his past and how closely it reminded her of her own past with her father telling her stories.

"My father would tell me stories of The God of Thunder and the Trickster." Thor drew his brows inward, "Loki? He's adopted, I assure you." Lexi laughed lightly, "I'm Lexi Monroe."

He nodded, "Thor, Son of Odin."

Fury cleared his throat before raising a brow, "Am I interrupting anything? Or can we get back to the matter at hand?" Lexi looked away, slightly embarrassed before Thor twirled Mjolnir with anticipation, "What's happening on Midgard?"

Tony interjected before Fury.

"We'll catch you up, it's been a hell of a few days. And by the way, what business on Asgard did you need to attend to while we were back here getting our asses handed to us by a bunch of demons?"

Thor furrowed his brows, "Asgard business that is none of your concern, Stark. And demon's? On Midgard? How does that happen?"

Fury finally lost his cool, "I swear your lot is like a goddamn circus sometimes. Everyone shut up. We got a lead on one of them, so we need to act quickly. I'm sending you all the coordinates to her apartment, along with a layout of the area. She's been in and out a few times, so my guess is that she's going to come back."

"Guess we need to come up with a quick game plan.." Steve added, to which Fury nodded curtly. "Ah, I've needed this! A good fight!" Thor exclaimed in happiness and his demeanor was that of someone that could take on the universe, as if he enjoyed the fight.

"Yeah, well, get your hammer ready because these thing's are a little different from what we faced before." Tony responded to Thor's enthusiasm with a slightly serious face.

"For a mortal, maybe." Thor quipped, looking at Mjolnir fondly and then looking up at the rest of the Avengers, and then back at Lexi. "Is she a new recruit?" Thor pointed Mjolnir at her and she looked around before Tony answered back for her, "Temporary member."

Thor frowned lightly before everyone started to head out of the room to suit up and come up with a game plan, "Pity. Angel's are mighty creatures."

Thor was about to walk out and Lexi stated aloud, "I'm a half-blood. I'm not full Angel. Part of me is still human." She said this with a strained smile, knowing deep down being the black sheep of her race was a burden that took its toll on your emotional state.

Thor smiled lightly, "No matter, Angel. Don't underestimate your strength." She nodded lightly and started to walk out behind Steve and Thor, but she heard Tony's words and it stopped her in her tracks right at the threshold of the door.

"He's right, you know."

Tony was walking up to her, removing his hands from his pockets and cocking his head to the side. Lexi leaned against the threshold and looked up Tony meekly, "About what?" She played dumb and Tony looked at her wings before returning his gaze to Lexi.

"You undersell yourself because you're a halfling. Which leads to you being unsure and being unsure leads you to question the confidence in your abilities and yourself."

She was perfectly still as Tony rambled, his voice wasn't rude by any means, but it was matter of fact and she forgot that Tony was pretty damn good at reading people, "So you can read me, Tony. Why are you telling me this?"

Tony sighed lightly, his tone softening in the slightest, "Because when we're out there on the field I'm going to need you to be sure of yourself, I'm going to need you to be confident in what you're capable of."

He watched as she furrowed her brows, trying to get a grasp on what he was getting at, "Second guessing and underestimating yourself all comes into play when we're on the field and it can get you hurt, or someone else for that matter." Lexi laughed lightly despite the serious nature of the conversation.

"Tony, not everyone can radiate the confidence that you do." Tony smirked lightly at her response and looked away before gazing back at her with a sheepish grin, "I just don't want to be worrying about you while we're out there, is all."

There it was.

He didn't want to worry about her.

She looked down, not daring to look at his eyes again as she had been slightly taken aback by his revelation. She bit her lower lip as she found the courage to look up at Tony, "Alright, Tony. I'll try not to make you worry too much."

Tony followed Lexi out and down the hall to catch up with the others, "Now that that is settled, do you like Tai food?" Lexi looked him as their made their way down the hallway. Such a strange conversation to be had before they went into battle, "Tai food? Uh-yeah I mean I eat anything, really."

"Not picky? That's refreshing." Tony mumbled aloud while taking a turn to the right down the hallway. "Are you asking me to dinner, Tony?" Lexi asked with a humorous smile.

"No, but I will. Once we survive this." He flashed a wide grin in her direction and Lexi felt a bemused smile tug on her lips and she couldn't help but laugh. Tony opened a door on his right to reveal a room with a few different suits, a tech area and his suit hanging up, ready to be assembled to his body.

And over to the far left of the room, her armor was set up in a glass display perfectly poised in the way that it would be assembled to her body. She looked to Tony and back to her armor in shock. They hadn't just chunked her armor somewhere or thrown it in a bunker.

They had displayed it so nice and neat, giving the armor its own display to keep nice and safe. Without saying anything she knew Tony had been responsible for this assembly of her armor and she looked to Tony with wide, grateful eyes.

All she had to do was smile at him with a knowing look and Tony smirked, "Suit up, Lex." Tony pointed to the area where she could change without being seen and with the touch of a remote, the display case with her armor in it opened for her to grab.

It almost felt as if she were actually one of the team.

Lexi felt a swell of something in her belly she couldn't put her finger on, but one thing was for sure, she wouldn't let Tony or the others down and she sure as hell wouldn't let her father down.

Her father had always believed in her; she had just needed that extra push to believe in herself. Tony's words seemed to have been the little push she needed to kick her butt into high gear.

If she were completely honest, the prospect of surviving this and going out to Tai food with Tony was appealing. And no matter how much her gut warned her not to fraternize with the mortals, a part of her couldn't help but feel a pull towards Tony that she'd never felt before.

Tony had spoken of worrying about her on the field, but what he didn't know was that from the moment she pulled him from the wormhole she had never been able to shake him.

And if it were true that since she was a Halfling there was no way she could ever be someone's Guardian Angel, then why in the world did she feel such a way about a mere mortal?

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Uhm, by the way..yes Tony is TOTALLY already calling Lexi.. Lex. I love that he's calling her a nickname! And if there is any confusion, Olivia is the host/human body that one of the demons is using, specifically Astarte, queen of spirits and the dead.


	13. Angel

**Author's Note:** Shorter chapter today followed by another update Wednesday or Thursday! Oh, and I have a Loki fanfic that is now published, The Imaginary Girl. If you're a Loki fan check it out!

* * *

Lexi sat in the Helicarrier twirling her daggers around her hands, letting them loosely hang for a moment before twirling them again. Her eyes were narrowed in on the daggers, but her mind was a muddled mess as the huge machine carried the Avengers towards the drop point.

They figured the best course of action was to drop down near Olivia's apartment, but not too close so that the team could fan out and without spooking her.

 _If she's even there_

Fury had gotten wind that she had been in or near her place in the past hour or so and wanted the team to bring her in.

Lexi was clad in her outfit that was fitted much like a true warrior Angel. Her outfit was like that of a one piece and it clung to her body snugly, the small amount of side fat she had near her underarms poked out, but Lexi wasn't in the mood to be nitpicking her minor faults.

Bigger things were at stake right now.

Her hair was hanging behind her in a long braid and when she caught sight of herself before they took off she couldn't help but smile.

 _Father would have been so proud..._

Lexi's expression must have roused her neighbor who just so happen to be eyeing her daggers peculiarly, "You good with those?" Steve knitted his brows together as he took in the etching around the blade and how ancient they looked.

"Pretty good, yeah." Lexi answered back nervously and without thinking she handed Steve one of them. He took it carefully, turning it over in his hands before raising a brow, "A lot heavier than I expected."

Lexi nodded and took it back before looking at them appreciatively, "My father said they are angelic daggers. They don't break easy, hence their weight." Steve smiled, and he noticed how she tapped her golden boot on the floor of the Helicarrier.

"You nervous?" He asked hesitantly and she sheepishly grinned at Steve. He was very perceptive, and she was glad she had been sitting next to him as Tony, Natasha, Clint, and Bruce gathered around some tech while going through a game plan.

Lexi nodded curtly, "I am a little. I'd be lying if I said I was completely ready." Steve laughed lightly, and Lexi followed up, "You don't have to-I mean you should probably be with the rest of the team since you're the leader and all."

Lexi never liked to waste people's time and she felt like she was occupying Steve's time when he could to be going over the plans with the team.

"Well, as leader I have to make sure my team is good." He responded with an all-American boy smile and Lexi laughed, "Good point." Tony turned around to look at Lexi and Steve before popping off rather quickly, "You're smothering her Rogers."

Lexi gave Tony a high eyebrow and a smirk as she pointed a dagger at him, "Aren't you supposed to be coming up with a game plan, Tony? Steve's fine, he's not smothering me."

Lexi held Tony's gaze and she couldn't help but notice the subtle shift from being annoyed that Steve was around her to realizing that nothing _else_ was going on between his comrade and the girl he had yet to take out to dinner.

Clint laughed, and Bruce snickered, "Ouch, did she just sass you, Tony?" Natasha smiled to herself and whispered lowly in a sing song voice, "You sound jealous."

Her voice was low enough so that only the few of them near the computers could hear. Tony shot Natasha a look before watching Thor meander his way over to Lexi and Steve who continued chatting to themselves. Tony looked back at Natasha, "Get over yourself Romanoff and Banner you're going to be saying ouch when I throw you off this Helicarrier."

Everyone went back to the game plan and Lexi couldn't help but notice Thor was smiling gleefully as he towered over her on the aircraft. Thor sat next to Lexi and she was fully aware that she was squished between the most patriotic warrior in America and the God of Thunder.

"You look excited, Thor." Lexi noticed as he twirled Mjolnir around his large hands.

"I am, young Angel. I live for a good fight." He was exuberant and raised his hammer in the hair while Steve just looked on slightly bemused at his comrade.

Thor turned to her with a confused look, "You have not fought in battle, then?"

Lexi shook her and shrugged, "Like I said Thor, I'm a halfling. I've been taught battle by my father, but I haven't actually engaged in battle besides the other day when I first met everyone."

Thor nodded, but there was an excitement to him that was contagious, and she started to feel his energy make an impact on her own, "You will do well, Angel. I know it."

Lexi smiled at Thor, "I'm glad you have so much faith in me. Both of you." She answered before turning to Steve and then back at Thor who was now looking at Lexi with a genuine smile.

"We will be comrades on the battlefield, Angel. I'm looking forward to it." Thor placed his hand on her shoulder and then got up from his seat to return to the group.

Steve sighed as the Helicarrier came to a halt, "Alright. End of the line, Lexi. You ready for this?" The Helicarrier opened up a hatch in the back that revealed the rooftop of a building in the distance below.

"Let's do this." Lexi nodded a bit more confidently.

"Alright, now listen up." A voice blared on the intercom in the Helicarrier and Lexi realized rather quickly that it was Fury's, "You get in, grab her and get the hell out."

Tony blew out a breath, "Geez, Fury, you make it sound so easy. Wanna come do it yourself?" Lexi bit her bottom lip as she let out a breathy laugh at Tony's retort. Fury clearly hadn't found it funny.

"Tony, I have important matters to attend to back on base so that I can ensure you and your rag tag group of heroes don't cause casualties. S.H.I.E.L.D. is clearing out the streets around her apartment now. Pretty soon there won't be any civilians around and if there are you _kindly_ ask them to retreat, got it?"

"Kindly ask? I shall just move them out of my way!" Thor boomed and smiled gleefully as his red cape billowed behind him in the breeze that entered through the open hatch.

"Once we get on the ground I'll loop you guys in on the plan." Tony nodded to Steve, Lexi and Thor before ropes dropped to the rooftop below and Lexi raised a brow.

"Look, not all of us have powers, okay?" Clint responded defensively and Natasha patted his back in a nice sentiment to try and calm him down. Lexi gave Clint a bemused smile, "Well, I mean, normal is..cool."

Clint narrowed his eyes at Lexi, clearly not thinking she was telling the truth before hopping down the rope and sliding to the rooftop below.

Natasha followed and disappeared before Thor hopped out next, his large frame landing on the rooftop down below with a large _thud_.

Steve ran out, his structure a lot more damage resistant than Clint and Natasha's. The super serum had done a number on Steve. He landed perfectly, and Lexi looked to Tony and Bruce who were all that was left.

"I'm staying here for now.." Bruce responded to the awkward silence before Tony nodded at Bruce. Something passed between them and she wondered what exactly it had been or what was up with Bruce, but he seemed hesitant on turning big and green.

Lexi looked to Tony and her wings shot out behind her in a flurry, while Tony produced a small little earbud for Lexi. He held it out to her and she took it carefully from the cool metal.

"Take this, put it on and no matter what don't lose it. It's how we can stay in contact with you." Tony said sternly, and Lexi quirked a brow, "You mean how you can spy on me?" Tony made a face, "Me? Spy on you? Never, it's not in my moral compass."

Lexi made a face and Tony eased up, "Look, we all just want you safe. Put it on and you can talk with me through it." Lexi did as she was asked and once it was on Tony flipped his helmet on so his face disappeared and she tried it out.

"Can you hear me? Tony? Uhm, hello, Tony." Lexi sighed dramatically, "This thing isn't working."

She furrowed her gaze and was about to start taking it off her ear until Tony spoke through his helmet, his voice slightly garbled, "Oh, I can hear you. I just like the sound of your voice." She knew without seeing that Tony was smirking devilishly behind that helmet.

"Smooth, Tony." Lexi responded, and Tony turned on his thrusters, flying out the hatch and watching her follow behind him.

"Smooth is my middle name."

Lexi groaned and flew out after Tony, her large white wings feeling free the moment the breeze hit them. "You ready for this?" Tony asked as they hovered in the air together for a fleeting moment and Lexi smiled lightly, "Only one way to find out, right?"

She grinned widely and then flew around the Helicarrier before landing eloquently next to Clint and Natasha who eyed her wings with wonder and amazement.

"Okay-so-" Tony started, but Thor raised his hammer, "I have a question."

Tony stopped, clearly annoyed, as did the rest of the group, while Lexi had to bite her lip as Thor actually raised his hand to ask a question.

"Why doesn't she have a battle name?"

Everyone frowned and Thor continued, "Stark, you are Iron man, Romanoff you are-" Steve put his hand up, "I think we get your point, Thor." Everyone turned to look at her while Tony flipped his helmet up, "No pressure or anything, but you need a name. Stat."

Thor smile as if the fact that his idea was a good one and made him happy.

"We will have all the time back at the Tower to come up with a name.." Steve offered as Lexi looked put on the spot. Thor shook his head, "What if she falls in battle? She will be, _the comrade who never had a name_."

Lexi stifled a laugh and she could tell Natasha had as well. Tony's eyes were rolled so far up his head from Thor's rebuttal that she wondered if he could see his brain.

"No one is dying today, Thor." Stark answered annoyedly while Lexi looked to everyone and her mind raced until something Thor had said stopped her in her tracks.

 _We will be comrades on the battlefield,_ _ **Angel.**_

"Angel." Lexi stated simply, and everyone looked to her. "Simple and efficient." She added while everyone started to nod their heads in agreement except Clint.

"I thought maybe like wings or something, but yeah Angel is good." Clint responded dryly, but a hint of a smile was on his face and Lexi shot him a look as he laughed lightly.

"Isn't there some mutant boy named-" Natasha started to ask curiously, but Tony interrupted her quickly, "Probably is, but I doubt there's a superhero name police or anything."

Thor raised Mjolnir, "Angel it is!"

Steve sighed, "With all due respect, I think we should stick to the matter at hand; getting Olivia."

Lexi returned to a more serious expression and nodded with everyone else, but Thor's childlike grin was still plastered on his face as he was excited that Lexi had gotten her much deserved hero name before the battle.

He held her gaze and winked, to which Lexi returned with a nod of acknowledgment and a smile. Thor had been adament she had a name and it only solidified her standing in the group of heroes.

"Alright, so here is how we're going to tackle this demonic pest.." Tony began...

Lexi listened with rapt attention, her body humming with a positive energy as the realization hit her that she was about to do battle with the Avengers for the very first time.

 _Here we go.._


	14. Cosmosis

**Author's Note:**

 **Enjoy ;)**

* * *

Lexi's wings were folded in and completely hidden as she followed Steve in the dark and eerily silent hallway of Olivia's apartment complex. Lexi's entire body was lit with adrenaline and her eyes scanned the hallway for any sign of human life, using her eyes and ears to aid her.

"How did Fury manage to get everyone out of here?" Lexi whispered, and Steve stopped in the hallway, his shield propped up on his back. It reminded Lexi of a ninja turtle with a shell on their back.

Steve whispered back, "Gas leak."

Lexi nodded before pressing her finger to her earpiece, "Tell me again why it was a good idea to just come to her apartment first?"

There was a strange sound on the other end, like static, and then Tony's voice rang out.

"Easy, _if_ she's in there you can snuff her out. And the cavalry will be waiting outside. Nat and Thor are scanning the perimeter for her. Hawkeye is at the look out. "

"And if she isn't here?" Lexi asked and Tony responded confidently, "Then we'll keep looking." She sighed heavily before Steve put his finger to his lips. They both stopped at Olivia's apartment, but she gripped Steve's forearm. His suit rubbed against her hands and she realized just how dense and heavy it was upon grabbing it.

"Whatever happens, Olivia is gone 'Cap. A demon of that caliber has already taken over her to the point of no return."

Her words were not exactly what Steve had wanted to hear, but he knitted his brows together as he took in the gravity of her tone and nodded his head in understanding. Lexi nodded to the door as it was already slightly ajar and only a sliver of light from the windows inside could be seen coming through the crack.

Steve wasted no time in grabbing his shield from his back and getting it in a defensive position. He nudged the door open and it creaked loudly, Lexi held her breath as she fell into step behind Steve.

Upon first glance the apartment was pristine and completely clean. Everything was in order as if nothing had been touched at all. He nodded to Lexi and she took the hallway that led to the bedroom while Steve started to inspect the front.

Her footsteps were silent upon the laminate floors, yet every time she took a step she couldn't help but cringe as if she were making too much noise. The hallway was eerie and dark, making the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end as she neared the bedroom.

She glanced in the bathroom as she passed, but it was completely empty. The lights were off and there was no shower curtain, so she didn't need to pull it back.

Lexi came to a halt outside the bedroom, but the door was already wide open. She swallowed thickly and poked her head in hesitantly before feeling her shoulders droop in disappointment.

It was empty.

Her room was no different than most girls' rooms. She had necklaces draped over the full-length mirror in the corner of the room where she also had photos pinned to the wall.

Her taste was rather bland in accents and color, but Lexi noticed that whoever Olivia had been was indeed the fashionista because lined along the wall were photos of fashion drawings that Lexi could only assume Olivia had been working on.

She neared them and ran her fingers over the photos as they were dating back to the past year. They ranged from dresses to blouses and it pained Lexi to see that Olivia had had such a bright future ahead of her.

Now that future was bleak because once the demon was done with Olivia's body, if she ever chose to be, Olivia would be dead the moment the demonic spirit left.

Exorcisms weren't going to help this girl, she was beyond help. Astarte was now the only person in that body and Olivia was no more.

The only thing that remained was the vessel and Astarte was now the captain.

The bed was completely made, but the one thing that did seem off to her was the closet door. It was slightly ajar, and she chewed on the inside of her cheek nervously.

"Anything?" Tony's voice came on the line before Lexi whispered back, "Not yet.."

She made a beeline for the closet door, but her steps were cautious as her right hand started to inch closer to one of her daggers. She was briefly made aware how much this reminded her of a scary movie when the victim moved closer to the open closet and the boogey man would be in there waiting for them.

Her eyes narrowed as she zeroed in on the closet door and her left hand nudged it open ever so slowly. Rather quickly she shot her left hand into the void of darkness in the closet as she moved hangers aside to get a glimpse of the inside.

Empty.

Lexi stepped back and looked to the mirror in the corner and her eyes widened. She noticed something fairly odd about the mirror as it seemed to ripple, but then it stopped as suddenly as it started.

Lexi held her breath and started back around the bed towards the mirror. She stalked closer to the mirror until her face was within inches of the glass.

Both her hands were now hovering right above her daggers, her wings had already spanned out behind her. Something about the mirror had her on edge now..her internal _oh shit_ radar was going completely haywire as something didn't feel right. Something was wrong..

A hand shot out from the mirror and gripped Lexi by the throat so intensely that Lexi could only let out a strangled cry before a person started to step through the mirror.

Astarte. Queen of the spirits of the dead

She had been using the mirror as a portal to hide behind. Astarte pushed against her neck as she stepped out in her all demonic glory, her dark hair long and floating as a purple glow shrouded her entire body.

"Angel-what's what happening?" Tony's worried voice came through the ear piece, but Lexi couldn't speak. Her eyes were narrowed into slits as Astarte's death-filled orbs glowed menacingly.

She leaned down to Lexi with a harrowing smile, "Hello Halfling. Abaddon was right. You are _so_ delicious." Steve was already in the doorway the moment Astarte threw Lexi across the room which resulted in her crashing into Steve and through the drywall across the hallway.

Astarte snickered before producing two very large wings from her back that dripped with purple sludge, which reminded Lexi of the underworld. She scrambled off Steve and watched as Astarte screamed loud enough to bust the glass from the bedroom window and she flew out in a blink of an eye.

"Tony-she's here, she just left the complex. She's heading your way and I'm right behind her."

Steve shot her a look as she was following behind Astarte out the window, her white wings anticipating the flight, "I'm going after her." Steve was out the window too, bounding down the fire escape like a trapeze artist as the serum in his body fueled his superhuman abilities.

The moment Lexi flew out the window she caught sight of the nasty purple trail of smoke that Astarte left her in her wake and she sped along the trail, flapping her wings with all her might. Astarte was coming into view, but she stopped suddenly, which had Lexi slowing down ever so slightly to see if it was a trap.

It wasn't. It was worse.

Astarte closed her eyes and used her hands to lift up something invisible, but she wasn't lifting anything. She was raising the dead.

Down below in the streets an army of undead soldiers from Hell rose from the asphalt as Nat, Clint and Thor stood before them at the ready.

"I think we need to send these guys back to Hell where they belong." Nat deadpanned as Clint was already shooting them with his arrows as he ran.

He slid on the hood of a car, careening into a couple of them with his bow slashing and dicing them before they could lift a hand.

"They go down easy." Clint stated with a smirk, but Thor frowned, "Don't get ahead of yourself, _arrow man_. They have numbers."

Clint looked around them and realized that they were completely surrounded in the streets by an army of undead soldiers. "Uh, it's Hawkeye, but whatever." Clint responded dryly while Nat smirked as she fended off a few that had come from behind her.

"Whatever they are they keep coming. We have to take her down." Nat responded as she emptied her chamber of bullets into a few more and then reloaded.

There was a mighty swarm of dark clouds and Lexi smirked lightly as Thor raised his hammer, striking down a line of soldiers before seeing the familiar red and gold blur that was Iron Man. He hovered over the undead army before using his hands to blast at a group of them that started to turn their attention to him.

"Hey, ugly guys. Over here." Tony emitted another blast from his hands that riddled them to ashes and then Lexi's eyes zeroed in on Astarte as she hovered vainly.

"You really think you can stop this from happening?" Astarte cocked her head to the side as a challenge and Lexi narrowed her gaze at her, "I'm not going down without trying."

Astarte sneered, "I was counting on that." With a fury of rage and evil Astarte flew at her in all her evil glory, slamming into Lexi and sending her flying back in the air.

Astarte reached a hand out to grab her throat, but Lexi was anticipating it. She knocked her hand out of the way before nailing a punch right to the demon's face, sending her flying back.

Lexi produced her daggers, throwing them up in the air and catching them swiftly as Astarte procured a small sword from her back.

"A Halfling that wants to battle? How cute." Her laugh sent shivers down Lexi's spine, but she was past being afraid and scared of these demonic insects.

Their weapons clashed dangerously and she could hear the _snik snik_ every time they hit. The demon was strong, but Lexi was also being powered by Angelic blood that ran in her veins. Though Astarte was dark and evil, Angelic blood had and always would be more powerful than anything dark.

Light always prevailed.

"Angel-need any help?" Tony's voice came over the ear piece, momentarily discracting her as Astarte sent a blow to her midsection that sent her flying back and into an office building.

She crashed through the glass and tumbled backwards. She used the tips of her daggers to push herself up off the floor and huffed, "An extra pair of hands wouldn't hurt."

"I'm coming."

His response was immediate and Lexi flew out of the building only to see Astarte being throw back by Captain's shield, which then landed back into Steve's hands. He looked up at her and gave her a thumbs up before continuing to take out the demonic undead soldiers below.

Tony was already by Lexi's side, hovering in the air as Astarte was wiping a smidgen of blood from her lips. "Oh, she looks angry. What did you do? Call her fat?" Tony quipped, and Lexi looked to him and even with the helmet on she knew he was smirking at her.

"I'm pretty sure she didn't appreciate being smacked with Steve's shield."

She found the banter with Tony during the battle soothing her slightly. She understood now why he did that..and Lexi found herself doing the exact same.

She was nervous, but a little humor in a scary situation was actually really helpful.

"Shall we?" Tony asked as Astarte started flying toward them.

It was two on one now and Lexi smirked as Astarte started to grow increasingly more irate by the moment. She charged head first at them both, her sword in hand, but she veered off at the last second, catching them by surprise while then doubling back and aiming for Tony.

Tony was quick though and dodged her sword before sending a blast to her back, but she whipped around sending a dark blast of tendrils from her hands straight to his suit.

It hit him straight in the chest before Lexi could even reach him and he fell. Lexi looked between Tony falling and Astarte, who was smirking.

Thor leapt up, catching Tony's falling form quickly, before dropping him on the concrete in a rush as Tony's entire suit was fried with dark sorcery. The feeling of the dark power made even Thor cringe in mild surprise.

Tony's helmet opened, and he looked up at Thor, "Okay, now I'm seriously pissed."

His suit was making noises and Tony couldn't even get ahold of JARVIS who was coming in and out of the feed like a garbled mess.

"What kind of sorcery has she done?" Thor asked as Tony's dark eyes filled with a rage and annoyance that Thor wasn't accustomed to.

"Sorcery that is going to get her knocked the hell out." Tony remarked while looking up at Astarte and Lexi going toe to toe. Their blows to one another were loud and at one point Lexi managed to knock the sword from Astarte's hands.

"That a girl!" Tony shouted as Lexi gained confidence and momentum in her movements.

"Tony-we could use you down here.." Nat's voice was now directly beside him and he turned to see her swarmed by a handful of soldiers.

"Angel can hold her own Stark, don't fret." Thor smiled while his eyes glowed with a fury of lightning and he continued to rain down hell on the soldiers, despite more of them clawing to the surface.

"We can't possibly fight all day. If we stop her I bet these guys stop coming." Steve shouted just as very, very loud roar sounded out in the distance.

"Here comes back up." Tony remarked with a proud smile.

Clint smiled wickedly, "Here we go.."

Everyone stopped, even the undead soldiers and Steve's smile grew wider as a large, green hulking figure was running down the street.

And right towards them.

"Bruce." Nat said with a relieved sigh while Clint punched the air with his fist.

The ground shook beneath them and the loudest roar yet came as Hulk jumped high screaming out, "HULK SMASH!" He landed on the concrete, smashing his fists into it and sending a wave of soldiers to ashes.

With the giant green hulk now in the picture, Astarte panicked and acted quickly while Lexi was distracted by the large green monster. Astarte disappeared into thin air, appearing behind Lexi and sending a dark and mighty blow of darkness to her back.

Lexi felt it and if she had been a mere mortal her entire spinal cord would have severed. Her back arched and she screamed as Astarte gripped her braid, yanking her back quickly and whispering, "You should join us, Halfling. You're on the wrong side and it will get you killed."

Her voice was dripping with venom as she spoke of the wrong side, but Lexi's eyes started to glow a deathly white color and her body hummed with energy.

Lexi elbowed Astarte in the ribs and she heard the crack before raising her arm up and sending a blow with her fist to Astarte's nose, which she heard it break.

"I'd rather die than join you." Lexi's words were low and angry as she felt a surge of energy in her veins that fueled her along.

"She is back!" Thor cried out, raising Mjolnir in the air while Lexi wiggled out of Astarte's grip. She soared around Astarte, sheathing her daggers and cracking her knuckles.

"Let's go, bitch."

"LANGUAGE!" Steve shouted and Tony smirked.

Lexi flew at Astarte who was without her sword, which was now on the ground below. The evil demon was caught off guard by the speed in which Lexi had used to get to her.

Lexi hit Astarte blow for blow in the air, but soon Lexi realized they were traveling higher and higher into the air, away from the battle below.

"I don't have eyes on her!" Tony yelled and she quickly breathed out, "I'm okay, just a little...BUSY!"

While Tony worked to get his suit back up and running, he used his metal body to take out as many undead soldiers as he possibly could while Clint, Nat and Steve did the same. Hulk was busy being Hulk, using his hulk smash and stomping soldiers into smithereens while also destroying the city again.

 _Oh well_ , Tony thought.

 _Fury would have to deal with that later._

"Thor, eyes. Now!" Tony demanded, and Thor raised his hammer and flew into the air before coming back a moment later with astounded eyes, "Stark, I can't see her. It's as if they disappeared."

"Angel, where are you? Thor said he can't see you. We don't have eyes on you!" Tony was getting nervous and he felt his heartbeat sky rocket as the situation started to spiral out of his control.

Tony didn't like to not be in control.

The Avengers around him grew tired and if they kept up they would surely fall on the battle field from exhaustion.

Or worse.

Static was all that Tony was greeted with on the earpiece and Thor shot up in the air behind Mijolnir to go scan again. Lexi hadn't even realized how they had gotten so high up. She couldn't get through to Tony anymore either.

"You lost yourself in your rage and didn't even realize I was cloaking us the higher we got." Astarte laughed. Lexi balled her hands into fists before flying at her, but she stopped suddenly and cried out, her wings pulling her back as Astarte was no longer in front of her.

"Dad?" Lexi asked as her father was standing before her. He was there in all his Angelic glory, his wings floating behind him and his typical coy smile on his face. He was as lovely as always and Lexi felt her hands drop to her sides at the sight of him.

 _But...how? He's dead.._

"What are you doing here?" Lexi asked as she came closer, but her dad never moved. He just stood there in his usual mortal business attire, his five o'clock shadow of stubble as thick as always. The familiarity swept over her and she felt her heart skip a beat.

"What are you doing, Lexi? All of this?" Her dad sounded upset, but not angry.

Lexi shrunk back a bit and looked down at her golden boots, "I was just trying to make you proud. I-" Her father finally moved, and he gripped her forearms, pulling her close to him, "I want you to be safe, Lexi. And fighting alongside these mortals is absolutely futile. You will perish with them if you are not careful."

His eyes held every bit of concern that she figured they would and Lexi looked away, slightly ashamed, "But, they need my help dad. We cannot let the demons-"

Her dad's eyes narrowed, "No-Lexi, don't you see? You are on the _wrong_ side! You need to stop while you are ahead. Choose the right side. This will not end well for for the mortals...you need to choose the **winning** side."

It was only when her dad's eyes narrowed, and his words didn't quite add up that Lexi felt the grip on her forearms grow cold. The chill was sent straight to her bones and it even wrapped around her heart.

With hands like a pit viper, Lexi's father reached out for her right dagger and plunged it into her right shoulder. Lexi cried out, her breath leaving her completely at the blow as it sounded sickening while it pierced through muscle tissue.

She was part Angel though. She would heal, but something about her insides swarmed. It was if a fight or flight warning bell went off in her mindy, body and even soul.

Her father disappeared and materialized into Astarte who was cackling deviously while tsking, "You are so predictable. So human. Don't forget, I am the Queen of the Spirits of the dead."

It was only when Lexi felt something hot in her core that she lost all control over what happened next. The rage and fear she felt was like nothing that she had ever felt before. Her eyes grew completely white, no trace of anything beneath them as her entire body started to tremor beneath Astarte's loose grasp.

Astarte's eyes widened, and she backed away quickly, the cloaking spell shattering from the burst of white light that came out in all directions from Lexi's body. Never mind she had a dagger stuck in her shoulder, because whatever was happening was beyond Lexi's control.

"No, it can't be..you're only a Halfling." Astarte mumbled in complete disbelief as the girl before her started to phase into something only true Angels could do.

Her body acted on its own accord and before she knew it she wasn't behind the wheel of her own mind anymore. Something was happening, and she could feel her insides ripping apart.

But she couldn't scream. Couldn't blink, couldn't do anything. She was stuck.

Thor looked up as Astarte disappeared in a flurry of purple smoke and within a moment all the soldiers on the street disappeared with Astarte. Thor's hammer dropped to his side as his jaw hung agape ever so slightly, "No.."

Tony and the rest of the team looked up as they could barely make out Lexi, now far up in the air. Thor looked to Tony with wild eyes, "She is going cosmosis."

"Uh-wait, what? ENGLISH!" Tony yelled as Thor looked up Lexi's floating form. The entire stretch of the street started to rumble, and Hulk shrunk back, roaring in his confusion at the situation.

"Her body is going into fight or flight mode. It is something Angels do when they feel trapped or anticipate death. If you don't want to see this entire city leveled then I suggest we figure out a way to stop her, she will take us all out with her!"

Thor raised his hammer and pointed at Lexi as her body glowed brighter. Tony had to look away from the light as it started to sting his eyes.

"Sir, you are back online." Jarvis' voice rang through and Tony groaned, "Could have been helpful like, I don't know, five minutes ago!"

"Sorry, sir. But, it seems that whatever dark magic was attached to the suit was attached to that woman. Once she was gone you were back online."

Tony nodded as he shot up in the air to Lexi, "Jarvis, talk to me. What am I looking at?"

"Her vitals are out of control and her core temperature is the equivalent to the sun."

Tony's eyes widened, and he got as close as he could to see the outline of Lexi's face, but her eyes were closed peacefully which was a stark contract to what was going on around her.

"Sir, I advise that you should stay where you are, I wouldn't-" Tony ignored Jarvis and got closer to Lexi despite the heat making his suit start to smoke.

"Tony-" Steve's hesitant voice came through the line, but Tony snapped back, "Damnit Rogers, I'm not leaving her!" Thor used Mjolnir to fly into the air near Tony and Lexi, "Stand back, Stark. I must do this or she will end us all."

Thor's eyes lit up and the clouds rumbled overhead as Thor raised Mjolnir in the air and sent one of the biggest lightning bolts Tony had ever seen straight into Lexi.

"NO!" Tony cried as the bolt hit Lexi's body dead on, which in turn sent the blinding white light shooting out in all directions from Lexi's body.

It hit Tony so hard in the suit that he flew into not one, but two buildings, landing in a heap on an office printer that was now completely destroyed. Thor had been blown back, his body landing unceremoniously on a taxi cab below as Nat and Clint rushed to his side.

Steve watched below as Lexi's body returned to normal and her wings drooped behind her as she ceased to fly.

Then she fell.

Steve didn't know if she was unconscious or dead, but he looked to Hulk quickly, "Hulk, grab her!" Hulk jumped on a building, smashing windows out as he crawled up the side, his right hand hanging off a window ledge. He then used all his momentum to jump in the air, grabbing the girl in his hulking arms while falling to the ground below.

Luckily, Hulk's back caught his fall on the concrete while Lexi remained safe his grasp. Thor was rubbing his head while Nat and Clint both pulled him off the taxi cab, "Go to her. I'm fine." He waved them away as he stumbled behind them.

Hulk opened his arms right at the moment Tony came flying back to the ground and Steve had already started reaching for Lexi as Hulk handed her body over silently.

"Is she-?" Clint asked as Steve held his fingers to her exposed throat. He shook his head, "She's breathing-barely, FURY GET US THE HELICARRIER NOW"!

Tony was already beside Steve, his helmet retracting open to see Lexi's peaceful gaze as she quietly fought for her life, "Tony-she'll be okay, we need to get her back though."

Tony couldn't hear Steve's words. He could only see Lexi's face as regret and guilt tugged at his insides. Banner was already shifting back into his normal form as the Helicarrier touched down. The Avengers were inside, and the hatch closed up as they prepared Lexi's body on the medical table.

Banner was quickly given a pair of black cotton pants and a Led Zeppelin shirt from Tony. He paced as Bruce started working on her without even asking questions. His medical sense kicked in and he was already in high gear.

Steve put a hand on Tony's shoulder, "Tony, there's nothing we could have done."

Tony wrenched away from Steve, "She was out there because I allowed her to be. You know we let her out on the field without even _seeing_ what kind of powers she was capable of. This _is_ on me!"

Nat and Clint were silent as they looked at one another sadly while Thor looked just as at a loss as Tony did. "Banner, talk to me!" Tony yelled out and Banner pushed his glasses up his nose as he looked from Lexi's body up to Tony.

"I don't understand how she's even alive. Her core temperature is coming down, but I mean..she's deathly hot. She should be dead ten times over by now."

Tony whipped his head to Thor and pointed at him, "You, what the hell is Cosmetic? Or whatever it is you said? What was it?"

Thor looked grave, "Cosmosis. It's an urban legend, a myth-"

"Looked pretty real to me." Steve deadpanned, and he looked at Lexi as her chest rose and fell with a shallow rhythm.

"You hear about natural disasters happening on Midgard? Floods, tornados or hurricanes as you mortals call them?" Everone listened with rapt attention as Thor explained the best he could.

"Not all of them are natural events. Some of them are rumored to be Angel's that have gone Cosmosis during battle. It is a fight or flight response to when they are in grave danger."

Tony stared at Lexi, "You mean they commit suicide, basically?"

Thor looked at Lexi's form sadly, "Yes. And they will take out everything in their wake if the battle is not going in their favor. They do this so they guarantee the death of their demonic enemy, but sacrifice is part of the package."

Thor shook his head, "It is only a legend, but Halflings are not supposed to carry that kind of power. Yet, _she_ does."

Everyone turned to look at Lexi and Tony crossed his arms, his hand passing over his face haggardly and without even thinking his feet carried him back to Lexi.

The most ethereal thing about her was that she didn't look broken, bloody or even half dead. Her wings spanned out behind her, but they weren't as glorious as they usually were.

They were ruffled, some looked like they were bent, and a couple feathers were completely missing from their place.

However, Lexi looked as beautiful as ever, a few minor cuts on her face and a bruise forming under her left eye, but other than that..she looked like an angelic warrior that was sleeping.

Everyone grew silent as Tony sank in the seat near Lexi's body, his arms crossed across his chest. His mind was going a million miles an hour as every detail of what happened replayed on a loop.

What he could have done to stop it.

What he could have done to prevent it.

How he should have been by her side **every** step of the way...

"It's not on you, Tony." Nat said from her seat as Clint held her hand.

Tony didn't even glance up at them. He just continued to stare at Lexi's unmoving body as they headed back to the tower.

 _But it is.._

 _If she doesn't wake up...it is_ ** _all on me_** _._


	15. Catching Fire

**Author's Note:** Oofff..ENJOY! Sorry for the delay!

* * *

When Lexi opened her eyes she felt as if a ton of bricks weighed her down, her body ached, and she groaned lightly as she felt the soft material beneath her body that could have only been one thing.

A bed of some sort.

Her head turned slightly to the left and when she opened her eyes she could see the outline of someone peering at her, whoever it was was a little blurry as her vision started to clear. She blinked a few times before trying to sit up on whatever bed she was in, but a hand steadied her down and she saw the outline of the person coming into focus.

Steve.

He was wearing a tight blue shirt and his sandy brown hair was a bit more disheveled than normal like he hadn't brushed it in a day or so.

 _How long had he been here waiting for me to wake up?_

Lexi breathed out a sigh of relief as his hand held her left shoulder lightly, his eyes a mix of concern and relief as she swallowed past the dryness in her throat.

"Hey-easy, Lexi."

His voice was kind and she smiled lightly before arching a brow at Steve, "Does this kick me off the team?"

Steve look incredulous at her question until he realized she was cracking a joke and even he couldn't hold back a wide grin at her question, "Not if I have anything to do with it."

Steve looked over her form as she sat up in the infirmary bed slowly, "How are you feeling?" His brows knitted with concern and Lexi hated that everyone was doting on her in such a way.

It's not that she didn't appreciate it, but she didn't like to be a burden on anyone. And right now she felt like a huge burden on the Avengers.

"I'm okay, just feel like I got hit by a truck is all." She laughed lightly, but Steve didn't look like he was laughing, if anything this made him look at her with even more concern than before.

Lexi realized Steve had been whispering, she furrowed her brows before looking to her right and noticing the long table with monitors and computer screens with hospital jargon that she didn't unsubscribe running across them.

She saw a body slumped over in a rolling chair near the monitors that displayed her vitals, his dull gray shirt and dark black hair was all she needed to see to know who it was. Tony's face wasn't visible, but his taught arms and biceps caught her eye as his back rose and fell in a steady rhythm of someone that was sleeping.

Lexi looked over to Steve with an arched brow and Steve looked at Tony's sleeping form before looking back at Lexi with a sheepish grin, "He hasn't moved since Bruce brought you in here. We both haven't, actually."

Lexi looked back to Tony and then at Steve and she let out a breath before biting her lower lip in silent thought, "She got away didn't she?" Lexi whispered, and Steve nodded sullenly before shaking his head back and forth.

"Doesn't matter though. What matters is that you're okay. We'll get them, I know it." Steve's earnest determination was something Lexi thought to be refreshing.

She smiled tightly, despite the foreboding feeling in her belly that kept telling her that there was no stopping the demons from opening the gates of hell since she had seen something like the end of the world in her mind.

But, was it a premonition or a warning?

She looked up at Steve as he made a move to get up from his seat next to her bedside and jerked his head over to the door in the infirmary, "I'm going to get Bruce and let him know you're awake."

Lexi nodded and when Steve made his way out of the infirmary the door clicked shut and Tony's head popped up as if he had been jolted awake. His eyes were wild and he looked over at Lexi as she smiled lightly in his direction.

Now that he was facing her she could see the lines from his shirt on the side of cheek and his hair was more rumpled than she had ever seen. The Tony Stark she knew was never this unkempt and she had to had to bite back a laugh.

She cocked her head to the side as Tony stared at her from his seat in the rolling chair, "Nice bed head." Tony let a small smirk escape his lips in her direction and shrugged, "I wouldn't be this way if it weren't for someone keeping me up for the past two days."

Lexi frowned, and her eyes looked around, clearly startled, as she started to try and pull the tubes out of her nose, "Two days?"

Panic bubbled into her belly and she started to feel her heart take off from the sheer terror that anything could have happened in the past two days with the demons, and she wouldn't have been there to help them.

"Hey, hey. Stop-look at me." Tony's voice broke through her frantic thoughts and somehow he had already gotten up out of his chair and was right beside her. His hands gripped her wrists to try and get her to calm down. Her chest heaved up and down and her panicked eyes locked onto Tony's as he peered down at her.

"Nothing's happened. All quiet on the home front, alright?" His voice was low and he looked at his hands upon her wrists and pulled away slowly as she placed her hands in her lap and licked her lower chapped lip.

It was quiet for a moment and Tony breathed out, his hand running down his face as a slightly irritated look crossed his features, "You know this is the second time you've ended up here since I've met you."

Lexi flushed under his tone and she looked away, almost in shame, but she quickly recovered and smirked up at him, "Maybe third time will be a charm?"

"You're seriously joking right now?" For once in her entire time here at the Avengers Tower Tony looked serious. Not just serious, but mad and his usual jokes weren't being fired back at her.

"You know you almost went kamikaze back there! You could have hurt other people, and worst, apparently you would have killed yourself with what you almost pulled back there."

Tony's voice was rising as he continued to talk, and Lexi frowned, her heartbeat pounding now as she was being scolded by Tony Stark. She stared at him, her face morphing into a petulant gaze that was on the verge of crying or screaming.

"I don't even know what happened back there!" She shouted back, her voice rising as Tony looked taken aback by her response and the ferocity in her eyes. "So, please _enlighten_ me because I have no idea what happened. I just remember feeling-"

"Like you were going to combust? Explode? Starting to sound familiar now?" He pressed sternly with a perfectly arched brow.

She glared at Tony, but her eyes didn't have the same ferocity as they once held. She was starting to think back to right before she passed out. She had felt so hot, inside and out, her core temperature was rising, and she couldn't stop herself. Lexi remembered hearing Tony's panicked voice too.

She remembered feeling like she was going to burst into a thousand pieces, and she swore she could remember feeling a zap, or a jolt, something that fried her, and she then it was lights out.

"How do you know how I was feeling?" Her voice was but a whisper, and Tony seemed to deflate ever so slightly.

"Thor told us what happened to you, but apparently only full Angels can do something like what you almost did. He said it was something like Cos-"

"Cosmosis." She finished the sentence for him and his brows rose up in surprise.

"You know what it is then?"

Lexi nodded slowly, and she looked away from Tony, down at her hands before looking back up at Tony in shock, "My father told me about Angels going Cosmosis. I just don't understand how it is possible that I was almost able to that. How did you stop me?"

Tony crossed his arms against his chest, looking down at her sternly, "Thor fried you with a bolt of lightning. You sure you're only half Angel?"

Lexi nodded in a rush as he jumped from one sentence to another, "Yes, absolutely sure. My mother is a human."

Her eyes widened, "My mother!" She started to push off the bed, but the tubes held her in place before Tony reached out and held her still, "She's fine, speed racer. Just calm down."

Lexi looked at Tony questioningly, "How do you know she's okay?"

Tony smirked, "I might have done some digging when you first arrived. She's fine, really. I had Natasha call up to the home where she is staying and make sure all was good."

Lexi shook her head, "That's impossible. They won't tell anyone that kind of information unless it's me." Tony smirked and shrugged, "You'd be surprise what Natasha can convince someone to do when she puts on her sweet girl act."

She stared at Tony for a moment, her lips pursed, "I need to see her soon." Tony nodded once curtly, "I'll have Happy take us when you're up to it."

"Us" She asked quizzically, and Tony smirked.

"Yep. Us. We're hitting a milestone here, meeting your mom this soon." Tony's smug smile made Lexi laugh and she rolled her eyes, "I doubt this ever happens for you, does it?"

Tony looked up as if he were thinking and he shook his head, "No, I'm not usually a meet the parent's kind of guy. I'm usually a love 'em and leave 'em kind of guy." His smirk was growing by the second and Lexi nodded knowingly and smiled coyly.

"What changed?" Lexi asked without thinking and Tony, for a brief second, looked as if he hadn't expected her to ask such a question. He cleared his throat and shrugged casually, "I'm feeling spontaneous."

It was his only response to the subject and he closed himself off again with his flippant gaze. There was a pregnant pause and Tony looked serious again, "Fury has ordered that you participate in training with all of us so we can get a feel for what you can do and how we can prevent you from spontaneously combusting."

Lexi groaned and rolled her eyes at his terminology. She looked away quietly and then back at Tony who was looking at her with a softened gaze, "You know, I thought you were gone." Lexi smiled meekly up at him before arching a brow, "Nah, you're stuck with me."

Tony smirked, and Lexi smirked back before he uncrossed his arms and tucked them into his pants pockets, rocking back and forth on the heels of his shoes, "Be a shame if you got whacked before we had our dinner date. I mean, I guess I can eat by myself, but I'd be missing your company."

There was the Tony she knew..and he was back with the punches, but she couldn't help but notice the rattled look in his eyes as he assessed her silently, looking her up and down in the bed with silent concern.

"I'm okay, Tony."

He looked up at her as she said this and before he could response Bruce and Steve came through the infirmary door. Tony stepped back as if he didn't want to the others to see how close he was to her on the bed. Steve looked from Tony to Lexi and widened his eyes with a humorous glint, "Nice hair, Stark."

Tony grumbled and he rolled his eyes, "Not everyone can be perfect every second of the day like you, Rogers." Steve rolled his eyes and Lexi put a finger to the bridge of her nose, "You two just stop." The boys looked at one another with small smirks as Bruce made his way to Lexi and assessed her vitals.

"Fancy meeting you like this again, Bruce."

Bruce looked up and bashfully smile before shrugging, "Yeah, uh, seems you have a knack for ending up here." Lexi smirked, and Tony pointed at Lexi, but was speaking to Bruce, "I told her that!" Lexi let Bruce do his thing and he looked at the others with a surprised look to his face.

"She's back to normal. I don't see any reason she needs to be here any longer. You're clear for the front lines again."

Bruce then added quickly, "Unless, you're not up for it. I mean-are you?" His gaze was genuine, and Lexi nodded, "No rest for a warrior. We still have work to do."

Tony looked to Steve and they seemed to share her sentiment as she sat up further on the bed, Bruce working to remove some of the tubes that hindered her from fully getting up.

Steve hesitated in the doorway before giving Lexi a small nod and then adding, "I'll let Fury and the others know you're awake." She gave Steve a thankful smile before he left the infirmary.

Bruce slipped the IV out and once she was ready Tony walked up to her and nodded at her attire, which was a soft black cotton shirt with Iron Maiden on the front and a pair of gray drawstring pants.

"As much as I love to see you wearing my clothes, let's get you into something else. Shall we?" Lexi looked down at the clothes and then up at Tony and he seemed to have already sensed the question lingering on the tip of her tongue.

"I didn't do that. Bruce and Natasha got the privilege of that."

Bruce overheard them as he cleaned up the utensils that had been used to keep her vitals in check and he looked pained, as if he was physically hurting, and blushed furiously, "Sorry." Lexi held up a hand as if to let him know it was okay. She shook her head and laughed lightly, "This is the second time I've been in the nude around here and not even been awake for it."

Tony smirked as Lexi got up slowly from the bed, stretching back and forth to crack her back, and then her white wings shot out from her back, floating behind her in an ethereal way. Bruce looked at them both, his glasses falling down the bridge of his nose characteristically, "Are you sure you're okay to walk around?"

He looked her over with concern and Lexi nodded through the pain that coursed through her body. She would heal quickly, give or take twenty-four hours, but she couldn't stay another day in that bed, that was for sure.

Bruce seemed to have caught sight of her wings, his curious eyes gazing at them as they took his breath away, while Tony walked around, taking in her white wings as his hand grazed her right wing.

Lexi froze as his hand brushed her wing, the feeling could be felt to her spine and all the way down to her toes. Her wings were sensitive, and she wasn't used to anyone touching them, but Tony's hands were surprisingly gentle as they stroked the feathers that made her unique and inhuman.

He let his hands linger briefly before walking back around to her front and cocking his head to the side, frowning slightly, "You ripped my shirt."

"You can afford another one, Tony." Lexi pointed out with a snarky note to her voice and Tony seemed to smile appreciatively at her comment.

"I do love a feisty woman."

Lexi rolled her eyes before watching Tony turn on his heel and start towards the door. She walked out steadily behind him before giving a small little wave to Bruce, who smiled back, before returning his gaze to cleaning up the infirmary.

"So, what first?" She asked as she quickened her pace to keep up with Tony as he walked down the hallway of the Avengers Tower. He seemed to have noticed his gait was fast and he slowed down as if forgetting that she had just woken up from a two day slumber.

"First, you train. I'm not letting you back out into the field until I know what triggers you to commit Angel suicide."

"It's called going Cosmosis." She pointed out with an annoyed tone and Tony shrugged as if he didn't care what the official term of it was.

"Whatever it is it's dangerous. We need to find out what triggers it so you can be ready next time." He walked into the elevator and she followed suit, leaning against the railing behind them, her wings closing up and folding behind her.

Tony seemed to have sensed that she grew quiet because he looked over at her as the elevator ascended to the floor where she was staying at, which was also Tony's floor as well.

"Penny for your thoughts?" He inquired as the elevator opened and he waved her out first before falling into step beside her towards her room.

"What about the demons? We can't just stop looking-"

"They're off grid for now. We have a feeling they are looking for the gates of hell you talked about. My guess is that they don't have a clue where they are, otherwise our world would be plunged into darkness by now. Am I right?"

She nodded warily, her brain turning as the gears started to work, "They can't find them." The shock was evident in her voice as they came to her room, Tony leaning lazily against the door frame.

"Bingo. Fury thinks the same too. They're hiding and they're searching. We need to take advantage of the small window we have and get you trained. Will you be up for it tomorrow?"

"I'm up for it later today." She quipped back with a prideful smile, but Tony shook his head, "I appreciate your enthusiasm, but you need to rest for a day before you put on battle gear again. Doctor's orders."

"Is that coming from Bruce, or you?" She asked with an arched brow and Tony smirked.

"You caught me, my orders."

She sighed and shook her head, a small smile curving up on her face before Tony interrupted her quiet thoughts, "We also have a leg up."

She looked at him curiously, "What kind of leg up?"

"Olivia, or what used to be Olivia, left an invitation in her apartment that Natasha and Clint found. It was for my annual Heroes in Uniform Benefit. She was invited to it, but by who I have no idea. She must have had a family or friend in high places to get into my swanky event."

He continued smoothly, "Natasha seems to think that the demon will go to the benefit posing as Olivia." Lexi looked incredulously at Tony, "You really think she will show up to such a public event?"

"If she's as vain as I think she is, then yes. She will be there. And we'll be ready."

"But, the seals.." Lexi ventured with worry laced in her voice.

Tony waved a hand, "Fury already has S.H.I.E.L.D. agents on it." Lexi felt panic bubble into her chest and she all but shouted, "They have no idea what they are looking for!"

Tony took a small step towards her and looked bemused, "And neither do you."

Lexi frowned because he was right and she looked away from him for a moment, and felt very helpless. How could she stop the seals from being opened when she didn't have a clue where they were at?

"I'm going to go through my father's old journals. There has to be something in there that I'm missing. Something that can point us in the right direction." She added nervously, grinding her teeth and now biting her lower lip, which Tony fixated his gaze upon until she stopped and he cleared his throat.

"For humanity's sake, I hope your father was generous in leaving us clues in one of those books you have." Tony remarked and for once she saw the rattled nature of his aura. The world was at stake...and the threat loomed ever closer.

It was enough to put everyone on edge.

Lexi looked to Tony as he gazed at her with a hint of fierceness to his eyes, and she cocked her head to the side, "I can sense it, you know. You're worry."

He frowned, "I don't like that you're in my head." She laughed lightly, "I'm not in your head, Tony. I just-it's just a feeling I get. Your aura is bouncing around wildly." He took another step towards her, which in turn had her holding her breath.

"Is that so?" He asked huskily, her bright eyes peering up at Tony's dark ones as his entire aura went wild with colors, their bodies so close she could feel the heat radiating off him.

He was gazing at her with a look that he had yet to give her before. This look was intense, smoldering and he seemed completely captivated as his gaze bounced from her eyes to her lips and then back up to her eyes as if silently asking for permission.

"What's it saying now?" He asked lowly as she felt her body lean into him, which in turn made Tony lean into her. Her bare feet shifted on the cold tile floor, and her back pressed against the door to her room. He towered over her as her chest rose and fell more quickly, her wings rattled as they could sense the electricity in the air all around them.

She swallowed thickly, completely consumed by everything that was Tony Stark right now, and though breathless, she found her voice, "That-that you want to kiss me."

His lips grazed her own, their faces were mere centimeters from one another and she could smell his scent, the metal and woodsy scent mixed together, with a hint of spice from his aftershave.

"More like _need_ to." His lips whispered, and her skin tingled from her cheeks all the way down her neck and to her toes. Her wings shifted as she closed her eyes, her lashes fluttering once before the words slipped from her mouth, inviting him to give in to his desires.

"What are you waiting for?"

It was all the invitation that Tony needed, the static that had been building between the two of them igniting into a raging fire as his right hand reached up to her cup her cheek as his lips pressed into her plump ones.

There was something so innocent, yet so divine and passionate about the way Tony kissed her, and she could sense the relief that flooded his aura. He kissed her like he had almost lost like his entire life depended on it and the only thing that mattered right then and there was her.

Only her.

He deepened the kiss and she pressed into him, though he pressed back, which in turn had her back shoved against the door to her room. Her hand fumbled behind her to find the doorknob to pull him inside, but just as soon as she did that her wings had other thoughts in mind.

She could feel her wings flicker and in an instant they shot out behind her back, surprising not only her, but also Tony who took a step back and broke the kiss with wild, lust filled eyes. He looked to her and then her wings behind her, and he arched a brow as her cheeks grew ten shades red.

"Is this..normal?" Tony asked and Lexi felt a small ripple of laughter escape her lips as she looked away and then back at Tony.

"Yeah, it happens when I get.."

He arched a brow and finished her sentence coyly, "Kissed by Tony Stark?"

"Excited." She rebuked and Tony's brows rose to his hairline and she looked away as her cheeks felt like they were still on fire. He looked away and then back at her, his cheeks flushed and she bashfully added, "Another reason I've kept to myself is this."

She nodded towards her wings and then smiled sadly.

"I couldn't risk exposure before...with..other people." She tried her best to explain, but she could tell from Tony's face he was gathering what she was getting at. She wouldn't even begin to tell him how her father had to mind warp a young boy a long time ago after he kissed her and her wings erupted.

It was why she led a life of solitude.

Until now.

Tony took a small step forward and smiled genuinely, "You don't have to hide from me. Ever." His words were said with a hint of seriouness and she nodded lightly, hearing the truth in them and feeling her heart flutter.

"I know, I just-this is all new to me." She meekly added and smiled up at him sheepishly.

"I know I'm a pretty big deal, but-"

She snickered at his sarcasm as he continued, nonplussed.

"You never have to hide who or what you are from me. Being anything less than who you truly are would a damn shame." He smiled and she looked on shocked, taken aback by the sentiment as her eyes felt like they were going to pour over with humbled tears of happiness.

"Guess I need to change." She mumbled lamely and opened the door, but still faced him, blinking quickly to avoid any kind of emotion to fall from her eyes.

"Right. I'll uh-I'll just be tinkering in the garage." He remarked quickly and he sauntered off without another word.

Lexi went into her room, shut the door and leaned against it, letting out a breath, and then a tear fell down her cheek and it wasn't because she was sad. Or hurt. Or in pain.

She was _happy._

Euphoria lit up her veins, seeping into every nerve ending as the thought of his lips pressed against hers came over her again. And his words echoed in her mind.

 _Being anything less than who you truly are would be a damn shame._

All her life she hid away, resolved to solitude as not to reveal her true nature, so to have someone accept her for _who_ and _what_ she was, well it was a bit overwhelming. As she gathered her things from her suitcase and started to organize everything in her room she realized she could still feel the tingle on her lips from where Tony Stark had staked his claim.


	16. Breathe

**Author's Note:** Goodness I feel terrible for this long overdue chapter. I'm still updating this story! :) Thanks for your patience and I hope you enjoy! 3

* * *

 **Breathe**

Lexi had finally changed out of Tony's clothes into her some of her own that she brought with her to the Avengers tower. His clothes were neatly folded on the dresser that was included in her room. It was a basic room, space wise, with a queen bed, a dresser, a small little desk area in the corner, but every single piece of furniture was pretty fancy. The bathroom had been amazingly contemporary. The lights were dim, and she loved the ambiance of the bathroom. The grey and off colored blue and white hues were really appealing.

Lexi certaintly could appreciate a nice decored bathroom. Her apartment bathroom was pretty basic and plain so this was a treat. Earlier that night her eyes caught sight of the jacuzzi sized tub and proceeded to soak in a very hot bath. Afterwards, she slipped into her grey joggers and a baby pink shirt with a tabby cat wearing sunglasses. She stared at herself in the dresser mirror with a genuine smile, her fingertips touching her bare lips in memory of the heated moment that happened with Tony earlier in the evening.

As the evening carried on she found she couldn't really sleep. Her mind was a mess and she tossed and turned in the bed long after she should have been asleep. Without Apollo and her usual living space, she kind of felt out of place. Her surroundings were just too new to get comfortable. Not long after a tossing and turning, she found herself sitting cross legged in bed, her wings open behind her as she poured over one of her father's journals.

The first one she had looked at in the stack of three was brown leather, torn in some spots, and she swore she had seen a coffee stain on one of the pages. It even smelled like him. Lexi found herself smiling as the pages flipped through her lithe fingers, her eyes catching bits and pieces as the pages flew by quickly. She returned to the front of the journal and her eyes started to pour over every single curve of his handwriting.

For a moment, she swore she felt her father's presence in the room.

She looked around sadly, a flash of memory flashing through her head from when she was little. She could see her father writing in his leather-bound journals, wings splayed out in their study in a grand display of his status as a _guardian angel_. He glowed all the time, but humans couldn't see it. Her mother had though. Which made her one of the very few mortals that could detect an Angel. Some mortals had the sight, and her father had been convinced her mother had it.

Lexi returned to the present and glanced back down at the journal as her eyes started to take in what she was reading. Some of it was her father's musings, other parts of it were about missions and his life. Other things were about her mother and Lexi. She came across an early dated entry and her heartbeat picked up as she read the words on the weathered pages.

 _'She was as ethereal as her mother._

 _She was perfect in her baby pink bundle and I knew right then my heart was forever hers.'_

He was explaining the day Lexi was born. Lexi's semi-damp hair fell into her eyes and it was a good thing too because the words stared to blur through the silent tears that welled up in her eyes. She wiped them away quickly and pushed back strands of damp hair, her hands fluffing her damp out in the back as if it would help dry it faster. Her right hand came back to turn the page after pausing a couple more times on other entries from when she was a toddler.

So far, there was nothing she could see that would help them find the seals. She knew she needed to be looking, but Lexi found comfort in reading a few random entries from her father that had nothing to do with the Underworld or demons. She felt very connected to him in doing so. After a while, the first journal proved to be more of a memoir of her father's life with her mother and Lexi. She finally got to the end and flipped past the last few pages briefly and found nothing of use.

It had been at least half an hour or more since she started. Lexi put that journal to her right and went to pick up the second leather bound journal, but something made her look up towards the door to her room. She felt a stirring in her belly that told her to get up. She didn't know where the urgent little voice came from, but it made her pause, her bright eyes staring out at the door to her room. Whatever this feeling was it gnawed at her stomach and made her fidget on the bed.

Lexi swallowed thickly, looking around her room before shoving off the bed and padding to her door. She unlatched the lock and slipped out into the hallway, her bare feet reminding her just how cold nature she always was without slippers. Lexi winced at the sudden bite of cold, but grew more accustomed to it after ten more steps down the hall. That odd feeling she couldn't explain pulled her along the hallway.

Her body was acting as of its own accord and she merely went along with the foreign feeling. She couldn't tell you a rhyme or reason why she felt the urgency to get up and out of bed, but something compelled her to. Being a Halfling, she didn't take these moments for granted. She knew when her powers were at work and this was definitely something divine in nature.

She bit her lip as the quiet hall was almost eerie. She had learned not too long after settling in that the Avengers had their own floors in the Tower, or wings, whatever one wanted to call it. She looked around warily, not familiar with the silence. This place was usually livelier, but at night she had no idea the place took on a very quiet demeanor. It would have been serene had she not gotten goosebumps on her arms. She wiped her arms quickly; her throat grew dry the further she walked down the hallway without seeing anyone.

Lexi knew that Tony had made sure she was staying on his floor in one of the extra rooms, but she had no idea if he would be up this late. She stopped, and rolled her eyes to herself with a small knowing smile.

 _Yes, he would be up this late_.

She walked down to the garage area she had seen before when they suited up for the botched mission to take down Astarte. The garage was wide open, spacious and it smelled like...well, a man's garage. There were tools everywhere, contraptions half built, a desk area that showed off Tony's touchscreen computer system, and then to the right were his suits. Her eyes held fast to the work of art that displayed itself in the glass cases. Each suit was put on display, and she found herself admiring them, and secretly wondering what it would be like to be the person inside one of them.

She could be quite claustrophobic at times, so she had no idea how that would even play out.

All of a sudden, Lexi remembered where she was and backed up a step. She frowned, and realized she was technically intruding in his work space. Not to mention he wasn't down here. It felt wrong to be prying without his knowing. She held her breath for a moment, eyeing the suits before catching a glimpse of movement in the reflection of a large steel toolbox. A shadow moved again and it was enough to catch her interest.

Every nerve ending stood on edge as Lexi bit her lower lip, holding her breath in anticipation as her heart thudded out of control in her chest. The movement stopped, but she knew she had seen something. Whatever it was, it was on the opposite side of Tony's work space, facing the steel toolbox so that it reflected off the surface.

Lexi's bare feet padded across the garage floor, her hands taking on a defensive stance, readying her fists and feeling the angelic blood hum in her veins. Each step she took towards the unknown shadow made her heart lurch with increasing speed. She looked around a moment, wondering if she should get help. But she knew if she ran out she risked being seen or caught.

She neared the edge and felt beads of sweat pop up near her temple. This was too much like a scary movie. She could _feel_ someone's aura around the corner. She bit back a shriek that threatened to escape her windpipe and jumped from around the corner to see what it was.

When she popped out from behind the work space her eyes widened and her heart nearly broke at the sight. "Tony?" He was slumped in a sitting position, clad in blue jeans, converse and a black 70's band shirt with a dark grey long sleeve undershirt that came to his elbows. His back was pressed against his work space table. His reflection in the steel toolbox is what she had seen. Not a demonic shadow! She instantly felt very stupid.

Her eyes assessed his body language in less than a second. His body was rigid, his legs drawn up close to his chest, his shoulders heaving up and down heavily. He looked like he was covered in sweat, and his right hand was scrunched in between the small space where his knees hit his chest, that same right hand clutching his chest. His left hand was against his slick forehead, which was facing down towards his knees.

Lexi reacted in a flash.

She was already next to him on the ground, kneeling before him on the hard floor of the garage.

"Tony!"

His eyes flickered open at the shrill sound of his name, realizing that someone else was in the garage with him. He hadn't even heard her the first time she called his name, but he knew now. His eyes looked defeated and so overcome with whatever was ailing him. He shook his head in his state of panic, words failing the quick witted playboy. She could see the panic swirling in his dark irises. They were wild, rapidly searching her face as his chest continued to lift up and down rapidly.

For a brief second, Lexi thought he was having a heart attack, or some other medical emergency, but then it clicked, and realization flooded her bones. This wasn't a medical condition like that, this was a _panic attack_. Lexi saw the signs from the sweat, to the panicked eyes and his hand clutching his chest.

He was silent as he stared at her in a vulnerable state of fear. It gripped his entire being. He parted his lips slightly and she was so close to him she could feel his warm breath coming out in sporadic fits. His eyes averted hers for a moment, embarrassment at being in such a vulnerable no doubt.

Lexi felt her eyes well up as empathy overtook her. Her heart sank at the realization that Tony was, and had been, suffering silently all this time. The worst part was that she would bet good money he was suffering alone, keeping this all to himself as best he could without letting the other teammates know just how severe his condition could get. Whenever Tony looked haunted at the mention of the battle of New York she now understood the depth of horror that would hit him.

This was not something as simple as a bad memory.

This was a reoccurring nightmare for him.

She noted the way his body tensed up, which was exactly the opposite of what he needed to be doing. He needed to try and relax, to stop fighting the panic and focus on his breathing. Without thinking Lexi scooted into Tony and used her right hand to gently move his left hand away from holding his head up. She then used her right hand and her left to grasp the sides of his face, his facial hair grazing her lithe hands. She did this with care so she didn't disturb his already panicked state even more.

"Tony, breathe with me. Slowly. In and out."

She felt the surge of angelic power hum through her veins, her hands started to glow a faint golden hue, but she continued to breath slowly and evenly, her words mimicking that of a true angel's voice. Lexi had been through this a time or two, but she never had panic disorder or anxiety on a daily basis, so she couldn't even imagine living each and every day with this.

The first time it happened her father had been there to guide her through it, but the second time it happened was a short time after her father passed, the pent up emotions she felt had exploded in a violent display of a panic attack. Her mother almost called the ambulance, but Lexi begged her to just hold her until it passed.

"Focus your energy on your breathing, never mind everything else." She whispered lowly. Everything fell away in that moment as Lexi and Tony sat together in the garage. All she could focus on was the fact that was Tony was hurting, and something in her wanted nothing more than to see Tony okay again.

"Just breathe, Tony."

He clenched his eyes closed tightly, his brows furrowed slightly as if he were concentrating on his breathing, doing exactly what she had instructed him to do. Lexi lowered her face closer to his so that her forehead touched his. She had no idea the soothing effect she had on him until she saw his body grow slack, his breathing started to even out in sync with her own slow breaths. The golden aura around her hands enveloped Tony, and he started to feel lighter, more blissful. His panic slowly receding back, being kept at bay by whatever it was she was doing.

His body relaxed considerably and she felt his right hand slip from his chest up to one of her hands that held his face. He placed his hand on hers, his eyes still closed in concentration as Lexi silently watched while Tony collected himself.

The panic attack had passed.

She could see the way his shoulders rose and fell with slower breaths, and her own shoulders sagged in relief. Slowly, Tony pulled away from Lexi, his eyes held fast to her own for a very long drawn out moment. He then quickly averted his gaze, using his right hand to wipe down his face, a small sniff escaping him. For a moment, Lexi wondered if she should just leave, but something told her to stay.

He glanced at her, a silent thank you in his eyes before the fell on her pj's and smirked, "Nice pj's." He offered a very small smile that rose and fell quickly. His body played catch up to the panic and anxiety that had just coursed through his veins.

He looked tired, worn out and Lexi had to fight the urge to run her hands through his dark hair to sooth him. She looked down at the cat with sunglasses and smiled sheepishly, "I'm into cats." He let out a small little breathy laugh, looking away as the awkward moment between them fizzled away slowly.

They stared at one another for a long moment before Tony surprisingly spoke first, his voice low, "You seem to have experience with this." Lexi continued to sit facing him, her left hand pushing back some stray strands of hair while nodding slowly.

"I had a couple myself. The worst one was not too long after my dad passed. I haven't had one in a very long time though." She paused and looked at him with a frown. "Does it happen often?" She spoke softly, but when her eyes looked up Tony saw the genuine concern in her own eyes.

He pursed his lips for a moment, his eyes roaming around the garage for a moment and he shrugged, "Often enough."

She frowned, "That just doesn't sound...safe, or healthy." She found herself concerned for his well-being.

He shook his head, looking away and at the suits lined up around the garage, "Nothing about my life is safe." He returned his dark eyes to her, the beads of sweat on the side of his face falling away, he used his left hand to wipe again. Lexi chewed on her lower lip, unsure of what to say before hearing two words she didn't expect.

"Thank you."

Lexi looked at him as he sheepishly smiled at her, an humbled gaze falling over his face as he stared at her with vulnerability and a raw openness. She nodded silently, a small smile finding its way across her face.

"How did you know I was in here anyways?" He asked while pushing up from the ground and getting up on slightly shaky limbs. He held onto the edge of the work space and stretched his back, before looking at Lexi curiously.

"I didn't," She paused before continuing, "I, I don't know, I couldn't sleep. Something told me to get up and then I found you in here."

As she spoke something in her mind flickered. A light bulb moment that told her it was very possible the reason why she found Tony in here was all because the voice in her head was trying to tell her something was wrong. How could she be connected to Tony in a such way? That was impossible, right?

He raised a brow, "Well, that's totally not creepy, but I appreciate your weird angel vibes, otherwise I might have passed out on the floor." His flippant nature was back and she smirked before reaching for his outstretched hand, pulling her off the floor.

They stood close together and Lexi eyed him silently, her eyes roaming over every feature on his face. "Did the battle in New York cause this?" She had an inkling that it was all because of it, but she wanted to hear it from him. She wanted him to tell her, which would open him up to confiding in her. He needed to talk about it with someone because suffering silently did him no good.

"Yep. I almost got sucked into a wormhole, remember? Thank you for pulling me out, by the way, but I was 99.9% I was going to die, so yeah." He remarked quickly as Lexi nodded slowly, allowing him to vent.

"I know it's not my place, but you really shouldn't have to go through this alone." Lexi remarked calmly, but Tony took a step back from her at this comment, walking around the work space and touching his computer to light it up.

"The team has enough problems already." He shrugged while pulling up some images on his computer and scrolling through them with his fingers, pushing page after page out of the way. She walked around the work space and leaned against the computer, her eyes watching what it was he was doing with mild interest.

"So, carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders and bottling up your own problems is the route you go?" She asked, her voice firm, no hint of playfulness was detected. He stopped what he was doing and turned to look at her with an incredulous look.

"My problems are minuscule compared to the world's problems. When you're an Avenger that's the sacrifice you make. You put others' needs before your own, and all that hero mambo jumbo." He grumbled lightly, an annoyed look overcoming his features.

"But you can't possibly help other people if you don't fill your own cup first." Lexi countered seriously, her arms now crossed across her chest, her wings fluttering behind her.

He gazed at her with a mocking look and snorted, "Did you read that in Eat Pray Love?"

Instead of getting irritated Lexi steadied her breathing. She breathed deeply, her nostrils flaring slightly as he completely went back to being normal snarky Tony. As if nothing serious had just happened moments before, as if he would literally just bottle it up and try to forget it. There was a tense moment between them. Tony gnawed on the inside of his cheek as he stared at Lexi, her ethereal form still taking his breath away every time he really got a glimpse of her and her divine beauty.

He looked away for a moment, and then down at his computer in an odd display of regret at his callous comment. She meant well and only wanted to help. Tony knew that as he spoke roughly. "I just gotta deal with it in my own way, Lex. That's all."

The fact that he called her Lex hadn't gone unnoticed. She liked the nickname, and moreso she found she liked it coming from him.

He couldn't let on to the fact that his anxiety and panic had gotten worse over time and more often than not he found himself waking up to horrific images in his mind that replayed on a loop. When Lexi caught his gaze she saw the the haunted look that plagued him. She breathed in deeply, her chest rising and falling as she gathered her thoughts. He could try and fool her all he wanted, but she knew better.

She pursed her lips and took a small step towards him "I understand that. I just-can you promise me something?"

He gave her a quirky grin, "My track record with keeping promises is really bad."

"For me." She stated firmly, her lips ghosting up into a small grin. He couldn't help but smile back. He truly was captivated by her in every way possible.

"You drive a hard bargain." He murmured with a relenting smile.

"Just promise me you'll at least consider not going through this alone. I'm not going to say anything to anyone, but -" She paused, her cheeks growing a tinge of red, "I'll be here is what I'm trying to say. Whenever you're ready, or whenever you need me."

She sheepishly looked down, then back up at Tony. He stared at her, his eyes surprised by her genuine tone.

That snarky smile crept on his face again and he mulled this over, "When I need you for _anything_?"

Lexi shoved him playfully, knowing where his mind and he laughed. A genuine laugh that made her cheeks blush a darker shade red. It was nice to hear that come from him.

"I'll at least consider it." Tony finally lamented with a appreciative smile in her direction.

A few moment laters, she looked to his computer and pointed at the large repulsor like gadget floating as a hologram. "What's this?"

Tony smiled widely as excitement flickered in his eyes. "Oh, this? This is a new gadget I'm working on for another concept suit." He raised a brow after a pause, "Wanna see?" Lexi smiled and nodded enthusiastically.

Late into the night, Tony showed her what he had been working on, explaining to her how everything worked. Sometimes she caught on to the big words he used, but other times it was foreign to her. Sometimes her eyes would casually glance at his lips or his taut biceps, and he would catch her.

"I know you're still thinking about that ravishing kiss we shared, but my eyes are up here." He mocked playfully. She'd roll her eyes before paying attention again.

Lexi found she enjoyed his company, and as they talked well into the wee hours of the night she got the distinct feeling he enjoyed her company too. At one point, he gave her a chair to sit in and she must have fallen asleep with her wings folded up because she woke up in the night. Her head was on part of his work bench, a blanket now draped around her that she didn't have before.

Tony silently worked. His back was to her so she could see his muscles coiled while he worked on something she couldn't see. He had left the hologram up of the suit he showed her earlier, but this time it was less bulky, more fitted for a woman. As the hologram spun around she saw two large openings in the back of the suit that were carved out. Before she fell asleep again, she swore the two openings in the back of the suit looked like a place for a pair of _wings_.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** This chapter comes close to my heart because I know what Tony goes through as far as anxiety and panic attacks. I used to have severe panic attacks myself. And can we just talk about how cute they are?! And how he calls her Lex? Not to mention he might even be making a suit for her? Maybe? In the movies, he always makes suits for those he cares about. Rhodey, Pepper, Peter. It goes without saying Tony might care about her more than he realizes. I think it's because they just met and it's weird for both of them how drawn to one another they are. Ahhh this chapter reignited my flame for Texi [Tony/Lexi] Hope you enjoyed!


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